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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25453861">ASHES</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackieshalom02/pseuds/Jackieshalom02'>Jackieshalom02</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), BAMF Original Character, Badass Toph Beifong, Bending (Avatar), Bisexual Katara, Character Development, Childhood Trauma, Denial of Feelings, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gaang (Avatar) as Family, Implied Femslash, Implied Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Kidnapping, Lesbian Character, Mutual Pining, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Protective Siblings, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Slow Burn, Trauma, especially ofc, everyone need a hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:22:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>85,817</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25453861</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackieshalom02/pseuds/Jackieshalom02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Here I stand, bleeding, bruised and breathless...but still standing."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>(Avatar: The Last Airbender)<br/>Katara x fem!oc<br/>Seasons 1-3<br/>Slow burn.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katara (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>211</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Honora had been taught from a young age that love was a dangerous disadvantage. That it could be used against you, to make you weak and soft and useless, she had watched the loss of his beloved son destroy her uncle Iroh, doing exactly what she had been warned it would do, turning him from a fearless General, to a soft bellied man with a softer heart. She had watched soldiers fall in love with people they weren't supposed to, prisoners of war, water-benders, earth-benders and were killed for it, without mercy, without hesitation. </p><p>The one time, she weakened her defences for a second, just a single second to let someone in (That wasn't her own blood, though even them, she sometimes held at arms length.) to see what the great fuss was about, she was shown by her own father what happened to fools in love. </p><p>Love makes you stupid. Stupid gets you killed.</p><p>An easy mantra to remember, a harder one to follow. But Honora had been raised to be a weapon of mass destruction, not one of love. She wasn't born to be soft and quiet, she was born to make the world shatter and shake at her fingertips, to bring the firenation to its bloody victory with her sharp eyes and ivory fire, the likes of which no one had ever seen for centuries. She was born to be a unfeeling monster, nothing more and nothing less. </p><p>So why was it, when Honora looked into those churning blue-eyes of the water-bending peasant, she knew she would easily set the world on fire, but she'd never let a single flame touch her.</p><p>                                            ○<br/>☆<br/>○</p><p>                 "I AM A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH."</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div>
  <p><b>Blowing a rebellious strand of dark hair out of her cold, </b><b>empty</b><b> and most of all </b><em><b>dead</b></em><b> eyes, she dug her shoe-less feet into the cold metal of the ship, grinding her sharp teeth together, a vicious and intense snarl leaving her painted lips before getting into position once more.</b> Zuko, panting for breath but refusing to give up, mirrored the girls stance and glared into her golden eyes with his amber ones, body taunt and muscles coiled, ready to pounce. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Come on <em>Zuzu</em>, you can do better then that."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>His face twisted, fists clenching before he kicked a large blast of orange flame towards the being, she smirked and bent backwards to avoid it, watching with alert eyes and an adrenaline filled smile as it flew harmlessly over her head. She stood up quickly and ran at him, enjoying the jolt of fear in his eyes as he panicked, realising it had been her plan all along and punched more balls of fire towards her in quick succession but she flipped over all of them with the same taunting grin and infuriating ease, reaching over and grabbing his arm to direct the last desperate wave of fire away from her before ramming the heel of her hand into his forehead, he dropped to the floor with a grunt.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Excellent form, <em>Princess</em> Honora." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>A voice called as she straightened her body, face clearing and eyes losing their sharpness before she glanced over to where her uncle Iroh was sat, tea in hand with his long maroon robes hanging over his frame. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Did you expect anything else, Uncle?" She called out calmly, rolling her muscled shoulders to realise some tension, purposly ignoring her brother lying on the floor. Iroh chuckled and sipped his tea calmly, watching the two siblings with an expression of admiration and unhideable adoration. Zuko, having finally gained his bearings, huffed and puffed as he stood up shakily, narrowing his eyes at his, unfortunately, taller sister.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Again!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora crossed her arms with a huff, "Why? so you can get knocked on your ass <em>again</em>? Its starting to get less funny and more sad <em>Zuzu</em>, I'm not even using my bending." Zuko glared, face flushing and lips twisting before getting into another fire-bending stance "I said <b>again</b>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She hummed low in her throat, as if considering it before blowing a raspberry, cheeks puffing out and her tongue wiggling before strutting off towards her uncle, ignoring Zuko's angry shouts demanding for her to come back and fight him and sat next to the old man, Iroh smiled and with a small shake of his head, handed his niece a cup of jasmine, she gulped it down greedily as Zuko thew a tantrum in the background. "He's lucky he's my brother, if anybody else spoke to me like that they would be a flaming pile of ashes before they could even <em>blink</em>." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Iroh chuckled, knowing her statement reigned true and reached over to pat her shoulder softly, pulling it back in the same breath before she could tense. "I'm very proud that you have not killed your brother, Honora." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<b>Not</b> <b>yet</b>." She muttered into her cup, eyes dark and stormy, brimming with threat as she took a calm sip, face pulling into an aloof expression, to annoy her brother even more so as he stomped towards them. "What part of again don't you understand?" he spat angrily, Honora's upper lip curled as she wiped her face from the light shower. "Firstly, that was <em>disgusting</em> have you ever heard of the expression 'say it not spray it' and secondly, I'm bored of fighting you, you barely challenge me Zuzu, I know your every move before even you do, you're too predictable big brother."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He growled at her, like some sort of <em>savage</em>, steam practically shooting out of his ears as his good eye twitched. Iroh nodded beside her "Your sister is right, Prince Zuko, you <em>are</em> too predictable, you allow your anger to consume you and its causing you to put too much force into your bending."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko's face soured as he processed their uncle's advice before he roared "That doesn't make any sense you crazy old man". Honora glared up to the sky exasperated, begging for strength, a muscle in her jaw tensing before she spoke in a condescending tone of voice, "because you put so much force in your bending you didn't have the agility or speed to dodge my own dum-dum." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The princess took another sip of her tea, golden and unnatural eyes looking at him from over her cup and mouth twisting into a smirk as Zuko twitched and blinked before stating a rather affectionate, "I hate you." And spinning around on his heel, stalked off away from them to, hopefully, work on his people skills.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She turned to Iroh who was already looking at her amused, "Two words, anger managment." which caused him to roar with laughter.<br/>______________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>"You </em><em>can't</em><em> just leave Nora, father </em><em>didn't</em><em> banish you, he banished Zuko</em>!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Honora</em><em> sighed, dumping the last of her clothes into her bag before she turned to Azula, who glared up at her big sister from her position on her bed, her arms crossed and a pout on her reddened lips, Honora chuckled and walked over to her with a smile. </em><em>"</em><em>Azula</em><em>, I promise I will come back, but someone has to make sure that </em><em>Zuko</em><em> and </em><em>Iroh</em> <em>don't</em><em> kill themselves...Or each other</em><em>." </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Azula</em>
    <em> smirked cruelly, imagining the event and purring, "Oh yes, what a terrible </em>
    <em>tragedy</em>
    <em> that would be." Honora laughed lowly, tapping the younger girls nose with her finger, causing it to twitch and for Azula to glare. "</em>
    <em>You are spending way to much time with our father, little sister</em>
    <em>." </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>She</em> <em>mumbled </em><em>affectionately</em><em>, hand running through</em><em> her sisters perfect raven hair fondly, eyes filled with adoration, allowing it in the privacy of her own room where no one could see. Azula smiled, enjoying the tender touch before remembering why she was upset, eyes snapping open as she jumped off of the bed angrily, "</em><em>You're</em><em> only three years older than me, stop calling me that!" </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>She</em> <em>shouted before turning her back on the taller girl with a angry huff, Honora sighed before walking around her and taking her smaller hands into her own. "</em><em>Azula</em><em>, I swear to </em><em>Angi</em><em> I will come back for you." The younger girl sniffed, her golden eyes so alike Honora's own refused to meet as they filled with tears, wondering </em><b><em>how </em></b><em>her big sister could do this, wondering who would read her those stupid bedtime stories that </em><em>she</em><em> pretended to hate, or brush her hair into the way she liked it, tend to her scrapes and bruises with a tender touch and kiss, who would train her to be the perfect </em><em>fire bender</em><em> like her big sister. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>The</em>
    <em> older girl bit her lip, watching her sister as her face crumbled, and feeling her own eyes start to sting, she sighed as she let their joined hands drop, reaching up and fiddling for a few moments, grumbling as her fingers caught some knots in her hair, before she finally had </em>
    <em>taken</em>
    <em> her crown from its perch on her head and with a moment of hesitation placed it onto Azula's, smiling softly. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>A<em>zula's</em><em> eyes widened, head snapping up as her hands shot up to touch the crown Honora had placed so gently into her hair. "You'</em><em>re</em><em> giving me your </em><em>crown</em><em>?"</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Honora</em>
    <em> smiled and cupped her round cheeks in her pale calloused hands, "I want you to look after it for me until I come back, </em>
    <em>Zula</em>
    <em>.</em>
    <em>" The young girl beamed up at big sister before jumping up and wrapping her arms around her neck and legs around her waist tightly. "I </em>
    <em>won't</em>
    <em> let you down Nora, I promise." </em>
    <br/>
    <em>______________________________________</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>A bright beam of glowing blue light shot into the sky, shaking her out of the memory, Honora leapt up from her sitting position on the floor and ran to the railings next to her brother to get a better look of the strange light. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Finally." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko growled, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye before looking back at the bright beam, trying to assess if it was a cause for alarm or a threat. Zuko spun around, "Uncle, do you realize what this means?" Iroh sighed as he placed his tea down next to his pai sho board. "I won't get to finish my game?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora smirked as Zuko glared and stated dramatically "It means my search - it's about to come to an end." Iroh let out a loud groan as his niecesighed to herself softly, eyes rolling. "That light came from an incredibly powerful source. It has to be him!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Iroh sighed and stared up at him grimly while Honora finally turned around to face them both, leaning against the railing indifferent. "Or it's just the celestial lights. We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing. Please, sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko practically exploded with anger as he shouted "I don't need any calming tea! I need to capture the Avatar. Helmsman, head a course for the light!" His sister pursued her lips, making eye contact with her uncle before shrugging her slender shoulders and walking off deck and into her room. With a sigh she opened up her cupboard and reached for her golden armour, after all it was always better to be prepared.<br/>_____________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora stood next to her brother as they crashed through the wall of ice, eyes sharp and calm as she prepared herself for bloodshed, the ship lurched violently and rumbled, causing her to grind her teeth together as one of the soldiers stepped on the back of her ankle. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The bowsprit of the ship opened with the sound of metal on metal grinding together, and folded out onto the icy floor pushing snow to the side and creating a soft mist into the cold air, Smoke streamed out of her nose as she let out a short exhale of fire before the soldiers and Honora walked forward with Zuko at the front. </p>
</div><p>Blinking as her amber eyes adjusted to the harsh light, she glanced around at the villagers before raising an eyebrow, unimpressed and slightly disappointed as she noticed there was no man or woman present, only children and old people, who were cowering away from them. The armour she wore seemed pointless now, to kill the village would be a simple task with minimal effort, there was no challenge here.</p><p>A war cry suddenly sliced though the air causing her head to snap to the side, fingers sparking with white currents as a teenager, probably only a year older than her ran at Zuko, weapon poised and ready to maim. Her brother, however, casually stepped out of the way of the attack and calmly kicked his weapon out of his hand and then kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling on the ice to the planks right.</p><p>Honora almost smiled as his head got stuck in the snow and he struggled comically to free himself, body relaxing as her earlier thought process was right, there was no threat to herself or Zuko in this village. She turned her head away as they continued their March forward, noticing the villagers draw even further back in fear.</p><p>Her eyes looked over the remaining villagers briefly, before they landed on a girl with braided chocolate brown hair holding onto a older woman protectively, Honora tilted her head as her rather pretty ocean blue eyes made contact with her own as she glared up at her, defiant and angry at the invasion of their home.</p><p>"Where are you hiding him?"</p><p>Zuko suddenly snarled, breaking the moment and dragging his sisters eyes over to him, his question was answered with blank stares and shaking figures, Honora rolled her eyes, already realising they had no clue what he was talking about, you can't fake that much fear, if the Avatar was here, they would of served him up on a silver platter to make them leave their already ravaged home.</p><p>Frustrated, he quickly lurched forward and grabbed onto the elder woman, ignoring the blue-eyed girl who yelped in protest as he showed her to the villagers, who huddled closer together with wide eyes "He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?"</p><p>Again no one responded. After a brief pause, Zuko threw the old woman roughly at the girl, who wrapped her arms back around her tightly, as if she was scared he would change his mind and grab her again. With a cry of frustration he then launched a gout of flame over the villager's heads, and shouted "I know you're hiding him!"</p><p>Honora paused, body stiling as she heard movement behind her, before her eyes narrowed and she stepped to the side, <em>catching</em> the water-tribe boy, who had stood up and tried to attack her brother while his back was turned, by the arm and flipping him over her head with ease as he crashed into the ground, she pressed her foot against his face, pushing him into the unforgiving snow and using the grip she still had on his arm to twist it as he <b>screamed</b>.</p><p>Her face still <em>hadn't</em> changed from when she stepped off of the boat, indifferent and cold and <b>dangerous</b>, and that's what scared the villagers, more than the angry man in front of them and his army of soldiers, there was <em>nothing</em> staring back at you when you looked into her golden eyes.</p><p>The girl with the braids let out a sharp yell, pushing herself forward from the crowd at the sight of his pain, only to be pulled back by a few of the elders, but that was enough to bring Honora's attention over to her, grip subconsciously loosening and allowing the teenager to roll out from underneath her.</p><p>Zuko growled at him angrily, good eye twitching and sent a blast of fire towards the 'warrior' who rolled out the way quickly, face twisting in pain as he put pressure on his injured shoulder before reaching into his belt and throwing his boomerang at her brother who barely managed to dodge it.</p><p>A little boy suddenly shoved himself in front of the crowd and threw a spear to the teenager who caught it swiftly and shouted "Show no fear!" The water-tribe boy, filled with a new sense of determination then charged at Zuko, who, as he reached him, breaks off pieces of the spear shaft with his wrist guards, a move taught to him by his sister at the very start of his journey.</p><p>After the head of the spear had been shorn off, Zuko grabbed the spear, boinks the boy on the forehead with it several times, then breaks it in half and drops the pieces on the ground. The boy then slumped to the ground, rubbing his head in pain as Honora watched on, almost bored with the dramatics of the two.</p><p>Zuko stood over the boy menacingly, Honora just behind him, before her ear twitched and she ducked out of the way quickly as something whizzed past her ear, cutting a few strands of delicate hair and slammed right into her brothers head causing his helmet to be knocked right off. Her eyes quickly flitted over his head, seeing no open wounds or signs of injury before flicking over to where the object lay, to see what had done the damage.</p><p>A boomerang. Her face twisted for a moment, of course it would be.</p><p>She turned her head back towards her brother, who was practically steaming and melting the snow beneath him and stepped forward, to stop her brother from incinerating the 'warrior' when a boy riding what looked to be a penguin flew right under Zuko and swept his legs out from under him, almost managing to get Honora too but she had quickly side stepped out of the way with narrowed eyes.</p><p>Zuko was sent sprawling to the ground, with his ass it the air and his helmet sitting on top of it, Honora almost smirked once more, looking at her embarrassment of an older brother, 'He's going to be firelord someday' she thought to herself, eyes flickering.</p><p>The children cheered as the boy with blue arrow tattoos stood in front of the villagers, the penguin looked at the boy with an almost offended look and waddled off. He looked at the water tribe boy on the floor and then at the girl with hair loopies and smiled "Hey Katara. Hey Sokka."</p><p>"Hi...Aang. Thanks for comin'." The boy known as Sokka said dryly.</p><p>Honora grabbed the back of her brothers armour and tugged him up with ease, a muscle in her jaw twitching as her body tensed, eyes refusing to leave the newcomer, trying to assess if he was a danger. The bald boy looked over at them as Zuko assumed a firebending stance, eyes angry and nostrils flaring.</p><p>Aang tightened his grip on his staff and glared, eyes going to each individual before hesitating on the girls, there was something about her that made the few hairs on his body stand up straight. The soldiers began to close in, but the boy blew the men on either side of him backwards with a blast of air. He blasted Zuko as well, but he held his ground, shielding his face from the wind. Honora's eyes widened before they narrowed as she realised who the tattooed boy was, fingers beginning to spark.</p><p>"Looking for me?"</p><p>The boy said, his face determined as he stared the two siblings down, Zuko's eyes widened as he asked incredulously, "You're the airbender? you're the avatar?"</p><p>Honora rolled her eyes, <em>idiot</em>, before she twisted her body and kicked a throwing knife out of the heel of her foot at the Avatar, the water-tribe girl screamed his name and he only just managed to dodge it, Zuko quickly turned to stare at his sister in shock "Ever heard of shoot first ask questions later, dum-dum?"</p><p>The boy sent a powerful gust of air that knocked Zuko off his feet before turning to her, "I don't want to hurt you!" he called out, tightly gripping his staff while Honora smiled sharply, and got into a fire-bending stance.</p><p>"I wouldn't sweat about it."</p><p>He narrowed his eyes before he used his staff to send a wave of air and snow at her, she quickly flipped out of the way before making a fist and white powerful flame burst out of it and he only just manged to block it, the igloo behind him wasn't as lucky as it melted to the floor within seconds. He stared at the girl in shock, eyes wide and panicked as she stood calmly, mind and body cool and collected. She glanced at the villagers out of the corner of her golden eyes to see their terrified expressions and snapped her teeth tauntingly.</p><p>"I've spent years preparing for this." Zuko's voice came from behind her and she took a step back, knowing this was her brothers fight, she was, for all intents and purposes, just his back-up. "Training, Meditating, You're just a child!"</p><p>He shouted, the avatar stared at him innocently before countering "Well, you're just a teenager."</p><p>Zuko scowled angrily and sent a flame directly towards the boy, he quickly spun his staff and manged to block it by spreading it out away from himself, Honora noticed the villagers draw back from the flames and smirked slightly before stalking over to them quietly.</p><p>The avatar and her brother continued to fight, and the boy was beginigng to notice the effect the fire was having on the villagers but only stopped completely when the pretty water-tribe girl in Honora's arms screamed as she held a white fire-dagger against the girls neck.</p><p>"Katara!"</p><p>The two boys shouted as she remained frozen in Honora's arms. She allowed her features to twist into a venomous smile as she stared them down, eyes empty, and whispered into her the shorter girls ear softly "Katara huh? Such a pretty name for a pretty face, don't move and I won't have to burn it." Honora purred as she whimpered.</p><p>The boy known as Sokka glared at the firebender, pure hatred in his eyes as he growled "Get. your. hands. off. my sister!" His hand gripped onto his boomerang, body shaking, and he looked prepared to bury it into Honora's skull, as if he'd get the chance.</p><p>The fire-dagger grew brighter and larger, flickering between blue and white as the girl gasped and held onto the arm holding it. "Sorry!" The firebender exclaimed smugly, "Fire is just so hard to control sometimes."</p><p>Aang closed his eyes before turning to her brother solemnly "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" He quickly gave Honora the side eye to ensure Katara was part of the deal and she nodded calmly.</p><p>Zuko seemed deep in thought for a minute before relaxing from his stance, the fire-nation guards came and grabbed onto the air-bender and began leading him to the ship.</p><p>"No! Aang, don't do this!"</p><p>The girl called out, struggling in Honora's arms, She almost rolled her eyes before releasing the girl causing her to fall into the snow, she rolled over and glared at Honora who, once again snapped her teeth together mockingly, enjoying her flinch, before her brother ran forward and quickly grabbed her and carried her away from the firebender, both of them glaring all the while.</p><p>The avatar glanced over his shoulder and smiled shakily "Don't worry katara, it'll be okay. Take care of Appa until I get back."</p><p>Honora quirked a brow at his optimism before strutting forward, placing her hand on her brothers shoulder and shoved him forward "Head a course to the fire nation, we're going home." he said before looking at Honora, the corners of his mouth turned upwards as she squeezed his shoulder softly, eyes still alert until they were safe on the ship.</p><p>The door of the bowship closed, and Zuko turned to the Avatar who was being restrained by the two guards, and stroked the staff in his hands "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father, I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks."</p><p>Honora's cold expression warmed slowly, light coming back into her liquid gold eyes as she let her hand trail down until she was holding her brothers wrist, tapping it gently with her index finger, aware of the avatar's eyes watching the tender actions in shock. "Don't drag this out, take him the brig and be done with it. I'll tell uncle of the development."<br/>______________________________________</p><p>"THE AVATAR IS ESCAPING!"</p><p>Uncle Iroh and Honora exchanged glances and they both sipped their tea. She held up 5 fingers and by the time she got to one they heard her brothers aggravated shout and the sound of metal studded boots storming past her room. She sighed and stood up and when Uncle tried to follow, she put a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>"Drink your tea, this will be over shortly."</p><p>He smiled up at her and sat back down happily, "I'm so lucky to have such an understanding niece." Honora chuckled, low and dark before walking out and running out on deck. Zuko was shooting fire blast after fire blast to the young Avatar who was getting pushed closer and closer to the edge, just as She was about to call out and warn him the avatar fell into the sea after a practically powerful blast.</p><p>"AANG!"</p><p>A voice screamed from the heavens and she quickly looked up to the sky to see the water-tribe siblings riding on- <em>what in angi's name is that hairy monster</em>? They landed on the ship as they all searched the water for the Avatar and just when Honora was starting to believe he was sea-turtle chow he shot out from the sea, using the water as a tornado and glowing a brighter white than Honora's fire.</p><p>He bent the water and shot it onto the ship wiping out the soldiers and her brother, she took a knife from the insides of her wrist gauntlet and quickly slammed it on the ground, holding it tightly as the water rushed over her, muscles in her arms straining.</p><p>Exhausted from the power, the avatar dropped onto the ship and into the arms of the water-tribe girl. They talked quietly to themselves, unable to see Honora who's eyes were darkening as the airbender pointed to something and the water tribe boy ran over to get it. He then struggled with something unseen before shouting "<em>thats for the water-tribe!"</em></p><p>The guards were walking towards the girl and she quickly stood up and froze them to the floor, back turned Honora's eyes narrowed, face not betraying her suprise, so without a momenets hesitation, used the girls distraction to her advantage as she ran forward and tackled her to the floor.</p><p>Honora straddled the girl with ease as she tried to hit her in vain, panic flooding her system. Honora grabbed her wrists and forced them to the floor, leaning in close as their noses almost brushed against each other.</p><p>"Here's me thinking that southern waterbenders were extinct." The girl struggled harder, trying to buck the taller girl off but it was no use, she was obviously stronger than her, she stared up at the firebender fearfully before crying out as the hands holding her wrists began to heat up, Honora quickly dragged her up and put her in a choke-hold, eyes alert and watching.</p><p><em>Sokka</em> had already placed the airbender onto the bison and when he seen his sister in the firenations arms his face turned red with rage. He gripped his boomerang tightly and Honora's hand began to charge up, blue sparks emitting from it as she whispered "Come and get it."</p><p>Katara quickly realised her plan and shouted "Sokka, you need to go, there's too many of them!" More guards were streaming out and walking on deck, Honora's brother was already being helped up by their uncle "I CAN'T JUST LEAVE YOU KATARA!"</p><p>He slapped the boomerang across someones face and looked at his sister with tears in his eyes as she whispered "Go Sokka, Aang's the worlds only hope, I'll be fine."</p><p>It seemed that the monster thing had decided for them and grabbed the water-tribe boy in his teeth and flew off, the boy shouting his sisters name in anguish and pain, Honora watched them go with dark eyes, before slamming her fist in the side of katara's head causing her to fall limp in her arms.</p><p>Her brother wasn't about to let them get away, He stood next to uncle and they went through the stances before throwing a large powerful fire blast at the monster. Only for the avatar to run forward and knock the blast back to them with his staff, it crashed into the icy mountain next the the ship and caused it to create a mini avalanche on the deck, Honora quickly covered the waterbender in her arms and turned her back to the avalance and burned to snow around them before it fell on top of them.</p><p>"Good news for the firelord, the firenation's biggest threat, is just a little boy."</p><p>Uncle Iroh said with a grim smile, Honora rolled her eyes, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes before tucking her arm under the girls knee's and lifting her up more comfortably in her arms, bridal style. "That boy, Uncle, Just did this." Zuko growled, pointing at the snow piled onto the side of the ship. "I won't underestimate him again."</p><p>Honora walked towards them and her uncle was the first to notice, his eyes widened and face morphed into shock as he noticed the girl in his nieces arms, "Honora! what have you done?" He shouted, disappointment features, Honora sighed "Don't worry uncle, she's alive."</p><p>Zuko turned and smirked at the sight of their new prisoner, "Capturing the avatar just got a lot easier." He called for one of the crewmen to take the prisoner to her cell, but Honora didn't like the way he stared at her and as he went to take her from her arms she breathed smoke in his face. "Back off peasant, I captured the girl, therefore she is my responsibility."</p><p>She turned to her brother with a glare "Is that understood?" He nodded quickly as did her uncle, and she tightened her grip onto the small girl in her arms before heading back into the ship. <em>This was going to be interesting</em>.</p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No one:<br/>Absolutely no one:<br/>Honora: "Blue-eyes."</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Growling angrily as she continued to kick wave after wave of burning white fire, Honora's gold eyes were narrowed and her red lip pulled up into a snarl.</b>A dangerous expression for such a dangerous bender, and you'd have to be a fool to even try and take her on, and that was a well known fact.</p><p>And yet, the soldiers they had fought endlessly were either scattered across the floor or had trued to gang up on her to take her down, knowing her to be the greater threat, of course that hadn't ended well, for them anyway. Honora cursed at her uncle in her head '<em>Fight the soldiers with your brother Honora , you need to focus on working together </em><em>Honora</em><em>, stop </em><em>complaining</em> <em>Honora.</em>' She was sure is was a scheme to make the two bond even more than they already had.</p><p>One of them managed to sneak up behind her and wrap their arms around her, she tried to call out to Zuko only to see him wrestling with one of the others on the floor.</p><p>She rolled her eyes before closing them tightly, focusing on ther ever-flickering heat in her core, and performed a move that only she could do, white flame surrounding her body in shifting circles, going faster and <em>faster </em>before <b>exploding</b><b>, </b>her golden eyes snapping open as the remaining soldiers were flung away from her, bodies hitting the metal and <em>screaming.</em></p><p>The princess blinked for a moment, staggering slightly as her body dropped at the knee, vision blurry and bleak, before she shook her head, dark hair clinging to her pale face and then she ran over to Zuko, who, upon seeing her coming, twisted his body so he was under the guard, Honora then flipped over him and grabbed onto the soldier last minute so when she landed on her feet she used her momentum to throw him across the deck.</p><p>His sister offered her arm to Zuko who quickly grabbed it with a smirk as they looked around to see all of their 'sparring parners' on the floor. "We did pretty good."</p><p>Her brother said panting slightly, she turned to look at him, eyes clear and face amused, knowing the difference between training and battle, her body language showing as such and raised an eyebrow "We?" He rolled his eyes and nudged her with his sweaty shoulder with a small smile and she did it back with a sharp grin.</p><p>"Come along Zuzu, let's get some food before uncle eats it all." She sung, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as he sighed before wrapping his around her waist loosely "Stop calling me that." he grumbled with no real bite in his tone, Honora snorted and pretended to think about it before grinning.</p><p>"No, I don't think I will." He let out a huff of breath to show his annoyance but didn't protest.</p><p>"Princess Honora!"</p><p>A voice shouted and they turned to see where it was coming from. Another shout of her name and she finally took notice of one of the guards ordered to stand outside of the prisoners cell running towards them. He panted for breath and placed his hand on his knees before wheezing "Princess, the prisoner is awake." <br/>_______________________________________</p><p>As Honora walked into the dark and gloomy prison holding block, the first thing she noticed was the water-bender, katara, glaring at the guards who, to her credit, looked quite uncomfortable. "You're relieved of your duties, leave the prisoner and I be."</p><p>The guards shoulders slumped down, chests visibly heaving in what she knew was relief before the stumbled out as quickly as they legs could carry them, shying away from the tall princess as she calmly strolled through the holding block and sat in front of the cage holding the hostile girl, eyes clear and body confident.</p><p>Honora tilted her head as she assessed her, the girl was wearing a thick light blue parka with dark blue gloves, and the hood of her parka down which showed off those ridiculous hair loopies and her braided hair but also showed off those pretty blue eyes. Honora shook her head slightly before leaning forward.</p><p>"<em>Now</em>, where is the avatar headed?" She asked, Katara laughed at the girl sarcastically before throwing her arms up in the air "How would I know? I've been stuck in this filthy, cold, ugly cell for however knows how long, I didn't get the chance to ask where we were going when I was rescuing him." She snapped angrily before directing her gaze to the wall, trying to ignore the chills in her body when she stared into the fire benders seemingly emotionless eyes.</p><p>Honora hummed in thought, "A good point peasant, I supposed it was worth a shot."</p><p>The water bender quickly turned around eyes wide, face turning red as she stared at Honora. "<em>Wait</em>, you knew I didn't know?"</p><p>The taller girl nodded shortly, dark hair died in a top-knot bobbing atop of her head, with a few strands brushing over her cheeks as she picked at her short nails with an expression of distaste as she stared at her briefly, Katara almost screamed at her in frustration before instead taking a shaky breath in to calm herself. "The why am I really here if I don't know where Aang is?" She growled.</p><p>"Well blue eyes, you're the bait, your brother was distraught at the thought of leaving you, and It isn't hard to notice the sickening love struck way the avatar was looking at you, they'll come for you and when they do-" she leaned in closer to the bars with a smile, her amber eyes glistening "They're <b>mine</b>."</p><p>"You're evil." Katara seethed, eyes brimming with unurshed tears. The fire bender stood up calmly, eyes not leaving her frame and uncaring for the insult, she'd been called worse, alot worse. "Sticks and stones <em>blue-eyes</em>. Sticks and stones."</p><p>Walking over to the side of her cell, she took the keys hanging from the rack and unlocked it, opening the cage door wide which made the water bending girl stare up at her in confusion, obviously suspecting it was a trap. "You're currently on a ship in the middle of the ocean, filled to the brim with guards, I trust you won't attempt to escape as it would end in your <em>untimely</em> death."</p><p>Katara shakily stood up and Honora stared down at her, eyes flickering in amusement which caused her blue eyes to narrow. She made a angry huffing sound before holding her head high and jutting her chin out slightly and trying to strut off to show her displeasure.</p><p>The key word was trying.</p><p>She stumbled as soon as she took a step, her legs being dead off not using them for so long and Honora, with her sharp reflexes was quick to wrap an arm around her slim waist and bring her crashing into her armoured chest as Katara gasped and clung to her shoulders.</p><p>"Well, that was just <em>stupid</em>."</p><p>Honora commented as Katara struggled to get out of her arms, Honora sighed before letting her go and she slumped to the floor. "What did you do to me?!" Katara snapped while the fire bender rolled her eyes. "Nothing, your legs have just gone dead, idiot."</p><p>She opened her mouth to resort but was interrupted by a loud growling noise. Honora quickly set her hands alight, body tense and looked around "What in angi's name was that?"</p><p>The water bender quickly wrapped her arms around her rumbling stomach, her face flushing slightly and cleared her throat awkwardly "You can put the fire away. It was just me." Honora looked at her prisoner on the ground and snorted, face no longer an controlled mask, and the fire in her hands extinguishing. "I thought we were under attack by a pack of polar bear dogs."</p><p>Katara's lips quirked upwards for a second in amusement before she scolded herself internally, <em>I'm not going to start making friends with fire bending </em><em>psychos</em> she thought to herself. She then placed her arms down onto the metal and tried to push herself up but only fell back down with a grunt.</p><p>"Need some help, blue eyes?" Honora taunted, her full red lips pulled up in a smile that was filled with too much venom to be sweet, katara looked up from her position on the floor to glare at the pretty fire bender. "Not from <b>you</b>." she growled stubbornly before trying to get up again only to fail. Again.</p><p>Honora quirked a brow, leaning against the wall as she watched the prisoner struggle before the water bender managed to stand up by clinging to the wall opposite her. "Are you quite finished at failing to prove a point?"</p><p>Katara huffed and shakily took a step and grinned smugly when she didn't fall which made Honora slowly clap sarcastically before moving forward and walking up the steps out of the prison. She looked over her shoulder to see the water bender trying to follow, her legs still shaking and her hand gripping at the wall and she rolled her eyes before turning around.</p><p>Walking over to her prisoner, she tugged at her arm and wrapped it around her pale neck before moving her own to katara's mid back. She then placed her other arm under Katara's shaking legs and picked her up smoothly ignoring the water benders yelp.</p><p>"What are you doing!?" Katara shouted, clinging to the pale girls neck who grunted in response "I would prefer to get to the kitchens before I reach the same age as my uncle, so please stop whining before I give you a scar to match my brothers."</p><p>The girl in her arms glared at her, her cheeks flushing a dark pink as Honora held her steadily in her arms and walked up the stairs and into the corridor. "Do I even weigh anything to you?" Katara asked with a frown, Remembering Sokka complaining when he had to pick her up when she twisted her ankle.</p><p>"No, its like holding a bunch of grapes." She answered back, her lips curling into a half smirk and Katara had to fight the urge to return it. As they walked into the kitchen, all chatter stopped and Katara was quick to notice some of the soldiers and guards giving her dirty looks.</p><p>She gulped slightly, but she wasn't the only one who noticed the looks she was getting, Honora tightened her grip on the girl and snarled loudly "If you wish not to be thrown overboard <em>I'd turn your gazes back to your food.</em>"</p><p>No one stared at the prisoner after that.</p><p>Honora walked over to an empty table and sat katara down on a chair before straightening up. "Stay here and don't do anything stupid, I'm going to go get you some food and I'll be back in a minute."</p><p>As she went to walk off, a dark hand clamped over her wrist guard causing her to tense, teeth baring as she turned to see the water benders big blue eyes staring up at her, worry reflecting off them as she took a quick look at the soldiers sitting around on other tables. "You're leaving me here?!" Honora rolled her eyes for what seemed to be the hundredth time. "No one will harm you peasant, not while I'm in the same room anyway."</p><p>Katara pouted slightly, and crossed her arms over her chest with a frown. "Do you want me to get you food or not? it makes no difference to me whether you die from starvation you Insufferable <em>pest</em>." Honora snapped, her patience winding thin with the prisoner.</p><p>"Honora! That is no way to speak to a guest."</p><p>They both turned their head to see Iroh walking towards them, his usually happy features pulled down in a disapproving frown. "Go get the girl some food, I will stay with her to make sure no harm comes to her."</p><p>Honora opened her mouth to argue before shutting it with a sigh, spinning on her heel and walking over to the chef to get the prisoner some food. "Please excuse my niece, She <em>usually</em> has better manners."</p><p>Iroh told the girl gently, his usual somewhat goofy smile taking up his face as he sat down on the chair next to her and Katara smiled back politely. "Its fine, she did help me, I guess." Iroh chuckled slightly, his eyes crinkling in the corners. "Ah yes, I was quite surprised to see you, not only out of your cell but in my nieces arms, you must of made quite an impression on her."</p><p>Katara laughed awkwardly, another dark blush crossing over her cheeks as she realised what the old man was implying. "No no, she just probably wanted to stop me complaining." Iroh hummed, his hand reaching up out of his sleeves to rub his beard. "Of course." he replied.</p><p>Their conversation was interrupted by a tray slamming down on the table and they both jumped back. Honora straightened up with a smirk, "Well uncle, as you seem so intent on showing her some good old fire nation hospitality, you can watch her while I go talk to Zuko."</p><p>She told them both with a sarcastic smile before turning her back to them and walking off as Katara stared at her armour clad back with a glare, all the while Iroh looked at the two with a small, secret smile on his face before clearing his thoat causing the water bender to look over at him. "I don't suppose you know how to play pai sho?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>"That water-tribe peasant is not coming with us when we go out for repairs!"</b>
</p><p>Zuko snapped steam practically blowing out of his ears as his uncle Iroh pulled his famous 'Kicked puppy' look. Her uncle liked to play the wise old-man, but he knew just how to manipulate the both of them, and Honora hated the fact she was more proud then annoyed. "I promise you nephew, she has given me her word she won't try and escape, it will do her some good to stretch her poor legs after being locked into that small cramped cell."</p><p>Honora snorted slightly, as her brother glared at Iroh before deciding to step in. "Uncle is right, I refuse to listen to any more of her complaining about her silly little legs, if she tries to escape she will regret it." She told him softly as Zuko growled.</p><p>"You all realise I'm standing right here?" Katara asked with a frown, her arms crossed over her chest and leaning against the wall, she had taken off the large parka and gloves in favour of it being too hot. She was ignored.</p><p>"<b>FINE!</b> But she's your responsibility!" Zuko snapped, shoving a finger into his sisters chest before storming off to the prow of the ship, Iroh following after giving the two girls a cheeky grin and a thumbs up. Honora walked over to the prisoner and grasped her wrist before stalking off after them, Katara being dragged behind her. "What is it with you and <em>grabbing</em> me?" Katara snapped but she was ignored again.</p><p>"Now, I'm giving you some ground rules." Honora stated, not looking back at the water bender who was jogging slightly to keep up and trying to ignore the pain in her legs. "Number one - Keep your mouth <em>shut</em>. Don't talk to anyone, Don't try to call for help and don't ask me stupid questions."</p><p>She came to a stop and stood next to her brother and uncle and tugged Katara along to stand next to her. "Number two - Don't get lost, because a lot of people on these docks will try and take advantage of you and I will not save you."</p><p>Katara felt a sliver of fear at that one, but nodded slightly to show she understood even if she just wanted to shout 'You don't own me so stop telling me what to do'.</p><p>"And finally Number three - If I tell you to do something. Do it." The plow of the ship opened, light streaming in and Katara lifted her arm to shield her eyes from the light as the four of them walked down the spout and into naval yard. Katara looked around seemingly in awe as the three firenation royals walked on, not phased by what they had seen countless times before. The only reason Katara wasn't left behind was due to Honora's tight grip around her wrist.</p><p>"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk loosing his trail." Zuko said lowly, glancing around as if someone was listening in. "You mean the avatar?" Iroh said innocently as Honora snorted, glancing behind her to see Katara frowning at them, obviously displeased at the topic of conversation.</p><p>"<b>Don't</b> <b>mention his name on these docks! </b>Once word gets out that he's alive every firebender will be out looking for him and I don't want anyone getting in the way." Zuko whispered harshy.</p><p>"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" A voice asks gruffly, they all turned and came face to face with captain Zhao. Honors's upper lip curled in distaste, before her face transformed, clearing of emotions as she quickly tugged the water bender closer to her and pushed her behind her.</p><p>"Captain Zhao, <em>Pleasure</em> to see you again." She called calmly, thinly veiled distaste lacing her words as she made sure she was stood in front of the water-bender, hoping she didn't argue at being roughly shoved behind her, Katara for once, didn't struggle, feeling the tense atmosphere and instead rested her small hand on Honora's upper back and shoulder, in an effort not to be seen.</p><p>"Its commander now, Princess Honora. And General Iroh!" He bowed after giving Honora the side eye who didn't even blink back in response. "Great hero of our nation. And who is the girl our Princess is so intent of hiding away from me?"</p><p>Honora's lip twitched slightly, her muscles tense and Katara didn't even think as she gently squeezed her shoulder in a effort to calm her down before walking out from behind her. She didn't get far before Honora tugged her closer by wrapping a muscular arm around her small waist.</p><p>"Retired General. And this is Honora's lady friend, she is joining us on our journey." Her uncle answered, drawing Zhao's attention as Katara choked on her own spit and the two benders sprung apart, one flushing a deep red while the other resisted the urge to simply burn her uncle to the ground.</p><p>"Lady friend?" Zhao asked turning to look back at the two and Katara unintentionally took a step closer to Honora as his eyes swept across her figure. "I didn't realise you still played for that team after the punishment your father gave you when he caught you kissing that serving girl, Princess."</p><p>Katara glanced at Honora out of the corner of her eye in interest only to see that the firebenders jaw was clenched tightly and her hands were sparking with electricity, but apart from that, her expression was clear, Katara vaguely wondered how one could look so calm, and yet so dangerous at the same time.</p><p>"I do urge you to remember who you are talking to Commander. <em>Unless</em> you want to see what happens when people don't show me <b>respect</b>."</p><p>The Commander quickly took two steps back away from the deadly fire bender before clearing his throat and looking back over at the two others. "The fire lords brother and children are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?" He asked with mild interest.</p><p>"Our ship is being repaired." Iroh answers, gesturing towards the heavily damaged bow of the ship as Zuko placed a calming hand onto his sisters shoulder, looking at her in concern as she patted his hand and let it drop without looking at him, not taking her eyes away from the man in front of them. Zhao looked looked back to them after a moment.</p><p>"Thats quite a bit of damage." He stated glancing over at Katara, Honora noticed and stepped in front of her again, fingers sparking in his line of vision as a warning. "Yes...You wouldn't believe what happened."</p><p>Zuko said looking mildly panicked before deciding to pass the responsibility. "Uncle! Tell commander Zhao what happened." Their uncles eye go wide and he struggles to find words for a moment and in that time Honora had already stepped forward.</p><p>"I'm afraid we crashed into an earth kingdom ship on the way to shop for supplies, luckily non of our men were harmed but our ship as you can see, took the brunt of it." She told him calmly, as her relatives sighed in relief and thanked Angi that they brought her along.</p><p>"Really? You must regale me with all of the thrilling details. Join me for a drink?" Honora reached out to grasp onto Katara's wrist, only to find the water bender had already reached out and grabbed onto her hand tightly. "Sorry, but we have to go." Zuko answered, turning to leave and Honora went to follow only for their uncle to place a hand on their shoulders and stop them.</p><p>"Prince Zuko. Princess Honora. Show commander Zhao your respect!" He then turned to Zhao with a smile "We would be honored to join you, do you have any ginseng tea? its my favourite." He asked as they walked away.</p><p>Zuko growled in frustration before fire erupted out of his clenched fists and he stormed after them. Honora took a shaky breath in before moving to follow, Katara jogged after her and bit her lip before gently taking the older girls hand. Honora glanced over at her with a raised brow "We're lady friends right?" The water bender tried to joke, Honora stared at her for a second before nodding once and tugged her along.<br/>______________________________________</p><p>They were all sat in Zhao's tent, their uncle inspecting the stand full of weaponry while Zuko and Katara were sat in the available chairs, Honora stood protectively in the middle of the two, body alert and listening to the movements outside the tent as well as the conversation inside.</p><p>"And by years end, the earth kingdom capitol will be under our rule. The fire lord will finally claim victory in this war."</p><p>Katara scowled and moved to stand from her chair only for Honora to quickly place her hands on her shoulders and force her back down muttering a small 'Shut it' under her breath. "If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a <em>fool</em>."</p><p>Honora almost groaned at her brothers reply, can all of them not just play nice so they can get out of here? Zhao turned towards them, his eyes calculating as they swept over the four individuals in front of him. "Two years at sea have done <em>little</em> to temper your tongue." He said condescending, as Honora reached forward and gripped her brothers shoulder as a warning to stay quiet.</p><p>"So, how is your search for the avatar going?"</p><p>Iroh, shocked at the turn of the conversation, tipped over the weaponry he had just been looking at, creating a long bang and commotion, Katara's hand shot up to grasp Honora's wrist in panic. Unaware of Zhao watching the action closely.</p><p>"My fault entirely." Iroh says, obviously embarrassed as Honora pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. <em>Idiots, I'm surrounded by idiots.</em> He backed away from the mess and give his niece a sheepish smile who narrowed her eyes in response. Zhao looked back to the fire bending siblings awaiting an answer, Honora straighted slowly "We obviously haven't found him yet or we'd be home, eating the finest food the firenation has to offer." Zuko nodded in agreement.</p><p>"Well did you really expect too? The avatar died a hundred years ago, along with the rest of the airbenders." Honora noticed her brother avert his eyes and the water bender start to fiddle with her sleeves causing her to groan inwardly. "Unless you found some evidence the avatar is alive."</p><p>Zhao said, glaring over at katara who gulped slightly, only have a armoured torso interrupt his line of slight. He averted his eyes when he noticed it was the princess. "No. Nothing."</p><p>Zuko answered calmly, as Zhao rose from his chair as he spoke. "Prince and Princess, the avatar is the only one who can stop the fire nation from winning this war-" Katara shot up from her chair with a outraged gasp "A war you people started! All <em>we </em>are doing is fighting back, so we don't get wiped off the face of the earth! Just like the Airebenders were!" She shouted, her face scrunching up and eyes alight with blue fire, Honora quickly moved, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. <b>Now</b>."</p><p>Katara glared at her angrily but the fire bender muttered quietly "I'm trying to protect you. Now be quiet and come." Honora turned her around and went to leave the tent only to be stopped by Zhao's voice. "If you have an ounce of loyalty left you will tell me what you've found."</p><p>The hand on Katara's shoulder heated up slightly and the water bender winched in discomfort before shrugging the hand off. "We haven't found anything, its like you said, the avatar probably died a long time ago. Come on uncle, sister we're going."</p><p>Zuko announced before rising to his feet, his sister and their prisoner following behind him closely but they were quickly blocked by the guards as the cross their spears in front of them. Honora growled and pushed her brother and Katara behind her protectively, her darkening amber eyes narrowed.</p><p>"Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed that the girl was a prisoner and that Prince Zuko had the avatar in his custody, but let him escape."</p><p>A guard told him, Zhao smirked as his eyes gleamed "Now remind me again, Just how was your ship damaged?" Zuko looked to floor in defeat while his sister glared at Zhao, <em>I'm going to choke you with your own intestines</em> She thought. <br/>_______________________________________</p><p>Zhao paced back in forth in front of an unhappy Zuko who had two guards stationed behind him. His uncle and prisoner sitting on the couch just beside them while his sister was physically being restrained by another two guards and being watched closely by a third.</p><p>"So-" Commander Zhao spoke, looking down a Zuko condecedenly "a twelve-year-old boy bested you, your fire benders and most shocking of all your <em>sister</em>? You're more pathetic that I thought."</p><p>Honora upper lip curled, her face losing some of its calm as her anger got the better of her. "My brother is not pathetic." Zhao quickly turned his glare to her but she didn't even seem fazed as her brother looked over at her in surprise before he glared back at Zhao. "I underestimated him once, but it will not happen again."</p><p>"No, it will not, because you won't have a second chance." The commander stated arrogantly. "Thats not your choice to make." Honora snapped, moving her arm slightly, body preparing itself as a plan formed in her head, before wincing as the guards tightened their grip. Katara made a move to stand up only for Iroh to place a calming hand on her shoulder.</p><p>"Commander Zhao, I've been hunting the avatar for two years and I-" Zhao turned to him angrily, flames erupting from his hands as he sweeps it in a arc above his head unaware of Honora who's hands were beginning to spark. "And you failed!" He paused "Capturing the avatar is too important to leave in a teenagers hands. He's mine now."</p><p>His gaze flickered from Zuko before landing on the water bender sitting next to Iroh, who was staring at Honora in concern and he smirked. "As is the girl." He turned to Honora who shot forward in his guards grips, as Katara's eyes widened in fear as he walked forward and heaved the prisoner up who yelped at the roughness. "Perhaps I'll be able to see why you keep her as your lady friend princess."</p><p>Katara struggled in his grip and glared up at him as he tightened his grip and spat "I'd rather <em>die</em> then touch a creepy, old slime-ball like you." The commander's hand instantly shot out and slapped the unsuspecting girl across the face who cried out in pain.</p><p>The commander had never regretted something so much in his life.</p><p>Honora roared, White fire streaming out of her mouth and the commander just managed to duck the deadly blast, the guard standing behind him, however, wasn't as lucky. Honora kicked herself off the ground and flipped behind the two men before twisting their arms causing them to groan.</p><p>With a snarl she slammed her charged hand into one of their chests and he convulsed to the ground as the lightening coursed through his body. Turning to the other guard, she brought her knee up and slammed it into his face repeatdly, hearing satifying cracks as she hacked away at his jawbone and nose, before roundhouse kicking him in the face causing him to drop to the floor.</p><p>She turned to the commander who's eyes were wide with fear as she stared at him, Katara quickly moved out of his grip and ran to what she hoped was the lesser of two evils as Honora pushed her behind her armoured body.</p><p>Her red lips pulled into a snarl as she growled the words "The next time you raise a hand to the water bending girl, will be the last time you have <b>hands</b>." <br/>_______________________________________</p><p>Zhao had left after leaving ten guards stationed outside of the tent, possibly in fear of the firenation Princess coming after him. "Honora how could you be so foolish?!" Her uncle snapped as the said girl rolled her eyes.</p><p>"What was I supposed to do? let him take her? He would of killed her the second she was not of use, you should be proud of me, I technically saved her life." Honora snapped back. "Yes and at the cost of three others." She rolled her eyes with a groan as her brother came to her defence. "We captured the girl. He didn't, Honora was right to kill them."</p><p>Katars was stood in the corner watching the family argue, her hand cradling her face slightly to soothe the pain as her eyes focused on Honora and she couldnt help shiver slightly, Remembering the raw power her captor possessed when she had fought to protect her was enough to give the children back home nightmares.</p><p>She took another glance at the taller girl, <em>For someone so pretty she sure does have a nasty temper-wait what?! </em>Her blues eyes widened drastically and a dark blush spread across her cheeks. Where did that come from? she thought. <em>Did you just see what she did to those men?! Is this really the time to be admiring fire bending </em><em>psychotic assholes</em><em>? </em>She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts only to jump back when she noticed amber eyes watching her.</p><p>"How's the cheek blue eyes?" Honora taunted with a smirk and Katara narrowed her eyes. <em>Yeah </em><em>definitely</em> <em>isn't</em><em> the time to start admiring </em><em>firebending</em> <em>assholes</em><em>, no matter how pretty they are. </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, to clear up any confusion Honora is 17, Zuko and Sokka will be about 18, Katara is 15 but closer to 16. Aang will still be about 12/13 and Toph the same.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Honestly, who wouldn't love to just punch Zhao in the throat.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div>
  <p><b>Honora glared into the side of the guards head, who, was going to an extrodinary effort not to at her, though his shaking knees and sweaty forhead gave away the fact that he had, indeed, noticed her dark gaze. </b>Her brother and uncle were both sitting down on the only chairs, heads close together as they talked to each other quietly, shooting quick glances to the guards stationed at the back of the tent.</p>
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  <p>The waterbender, Katara, was standing to just to the side of them, watching the firebending princess in amusement, her hand still pressing into her cheek, only this time with ice she had frozen from Iroh's tea wrapped in a posh looking cloth Honora had stolen from a guard, desperate to show some sort of defiance, as if she hadn't killed a few of his men. </p>
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  <p>Katara hesitated for a second, before walking over to her slowly, the taller girl turned her head and caught the waterbenders eye and sent her a quick smirk, "How's the cheek?" </p>
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  <p>Her cheek was throbbing actually, though something told her if she said that she'd either be teased for it, or have to watch the firebender go off into another fit of rage. "Its fine, thanks for the cloth." she answered. </p>
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  <p>The was a moment of awkward silence, the two staring at each other, Honora with a raised eyebrow while Katara was internally screaming at herself. She took a breath before desciding it was now or never. "And thankyou...for the, well, you know, the, er-" she struggled, wondering why the words just wouldn't just come out of her mouth, before Honora chose to take pity on the girl and held up her hand. </p>
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  <p>"Although its hilarious watching you stumble over yourself, blue eyes-" at this, Katara scowled and contemplated throwing the ice pack at her big, stupid head. "Theres no thanks nesseccery, like my brother said, you're my responsiblity while we're on these docks." </p>
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  <p>Katara pursued her lips and bobbed her head awkwardly, wondering idly if she looked as idiotic as she felt. <em>This must be how Sokka feels constantly</em>, she thought, thinking back to the time before their father went off to war, when one of the older girls were struggling with carrying back a turtle seal, and sokka, in an effort to impress her, had rushed over and thrown it over his shoulder before sinking straight through the ice and getting stuck. </p>
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  <p>She shook herself out of the memory quickly, taking a glance at Honora only to see she had taken back to her earlier stance, staring at the guard hoping he would combust. She chewed on her bottom lip, and opened her mouth to say something, before shutting it frustratingly. </p>
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  <p><em>Is there a reason I'm trying so hard to have a conversation with a firebending jerk? </em>She thought to herself with a scowl, she was now closely resembling Honora, staring at the girl with narrowed eyes, and a heated stare. "I've got to say though-" Katara quickly looked to the side, copying Honora's leaned back pose in an effort to look cool and collected. "Zhao's face when you called him a slimeball, was, quite possibly, one of the funniest things I've seen in my life." </p>
</div><p>Honora said, turning her head to grin at Katara, all red lips and sharp teeth that gleamed in the dark of the tent, screaming danger and darkness and all things in between. But Katara couldn't find it in herself to be scared of her, not when she could see the tenderness inside her, when she interacted with her brother and uncle. It was almost sweet.</p><p>So, instead she smiled, somewhat awkwardly and mumbled as quietly as she could, lest she disturbed the peace of the moment, "I don't know, his face when you spat fire at him must of been a close second." The two shared a quiet laugh, seemingly forgetting, for the time being that they were being held captive, Katara twice over, and were supposed to be enemies.</p><p>Suddenly, the flaps of the tents open dramatically, Honora stood up straight and watched with a small sense of pride when the small waterbender took a step closer to her, blue eyes narrowed as Zhao walked in.</p><p>"My search party is ready." he annonced calmly, mainly speaking to the two in the seats, pretending to ignore the dangeous Princess and her 'lady friend'. "Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you'll be free to go."</p><p>Zuko, obviously hadn't learned to keep his mouth shut. "Why? Are you worried I'm going to try and stop you?" He spat, upper lip curling as he tried to dig into Zhao in the only way he could, only to have him laugh into his face. "You? Stop me? Impossible."</p><p>Honora pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, mentally preparing herself for the fight that was no doubt about to happen. Again. And sure enough, just as she predicted, Zuko stood up, all, puffed out chest and scowl that made him look constipated, as he spat "Don't underestimate me, Zhao. I <em>will</em> capture the Avatar <em>before</em> you."</p><p>"Prince Zuko, that's enough!" Uncle Iroh warned, while Honora groaned loudly wanting this ordeal to be over with but knowing by now that it wasnt going to happen.</p><p>"You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of warships under my command, and you," Zhao sneered at Zuko. "you're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you." Honora's eyes snapped open, Shocking Katara who couldn't help but feel a shiver go down her spine, the firebender had golden eyes, yes, she knew that, but looking into them now was like staring directly into the sun. Blinding.</p><p>"How dare you!" She snarled, stalking forward with a fire in her eyes and sparks cracking between her pale fingers. "Take all your warships, and your men away from you and what are you? Nothing. Just an excendenly ugly man, with an attitude to match. My brother is worth ten of you, you steaming pile of cow shi-"</p><p>"Princess Honora!" Her uncle snapped, taking her arm and bringing her close, noticing the men stationed all around getting into stances and gripping weapons harder. But he didn't fear for her, he only feared what would happen to them once she noticed. There was a reason Honora had been his brothers favourite.</p><p>"You're wrong." Zuko growled finally, without even a side glance to his sister and uncle, seemingly not hearing a word that either had said, his hands clenched as he glared at Zhao. "Once I deliever the Avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor, and restore my rightful place on the throne."</p><p>Zhao's eyes glinted cruely as he openly laughed in Zuko's face.</p><p>"If your father really wanted you home, he'd have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes, you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation." Uncle Iroh tighted his grip on Honora's arm, feeling the skin underneath reach boiling temperature, fire curling underneath her skin, seeking destruction and carnage and <em>death </em>as she snarled.</p><p>"That's not true."</p><p>"You have the scar to prove it."That had seemed to be the final straw, Zuko cried out and launched himself in front of Zhao, slamming his hands onto the table dividing them as he yelled out "Maybe you'd like one to match!"</p><p>"Is that a challenge?" Zhao smirked, as though he had just won something extrodinary, and wasn't in fact, arguing with an teenage boy.</p><p>"An Agni Kai. At sunset."</p><p>Katara gulped, not truly knowing what it means but by Honora's outraged cry and Iroh's frown, it meant nothing good. With that thought in mind she took a step closer, and unconciously fisted a handful of the Princess's red shirt. "Very well. It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle and sister will have to do." And with that, walked past the four, flinching slightly as Honora tried to lurch towards him, held back by her uncle who sighed.</p><p>"Are you an idiot?" Honora snarled, setting her arm alight, forcing her uncle to let go as he blew quickly onto his fingers with a whimper. She marched up to her brother and shoved him, her rage animating the girl like she'd never been seen before, her brother  grunted and almost toppled over as he glared at her.</p><p>"What was I meant to do?" He snapped, shoving the taller girl back angrily, frowning when she didn't even move an inch, yeah like his masculinty wasn't already destroyed enough he thought with a pout. "I don't know, maybe not challege everyone who annoys you to an agni kai?!" She spat. "You're going to get yourself killed."</p><p>Katara and Iroh stood to the side, watching the two siblings like a match, swinging their heads either side before Iroh looked over to the waterbender. "Would you like some tea?" He asked, trying to hide his grimace with a smile as the girl shrugged her shoulders, enthralled by the argument happening in front of her.</p><p>"I can handle Zhao." Zuko shouted, a vein in his head becoming visible, only to have his sister laugh in his face. "Have you forgot what happened that last time you dueled a master?"</p><p>Silence echoed throughout the tent, and Uncle Iroh had turned pale as Honora stared down her brother. Zuko took a quite breath, as he whispered, more to himself than the others in the room. "I will never forget."</p><p>"And neither will I."</p><p>At the confession, Zuko turned to look at his sister closely, feeling his hair flutter over his cheek at how fast his head had turned, looking closely into her eyes, and was shocked to see concern reflecting back to him. "You're my brother Zuko, and I don't know what I'll do if something happens to you."</p><p>Zuko shifted uncomfortably, not used to the open affection in her voice, and tried to play it off with something he was even worse at. Jokes. "Probably burn Zhao to the ground like the psycho you are."</p><p>Her jaw clenched, before she nodded once and spun around, leaving the tent and a long silence with it. Katara pulled a face and pointed her thumb towards the exit awkwardly. "I'm just going to-" but retriving no answer, walked out of the tent and after the princess.<br/>_______________________________________</p><p>Katara had found Honora, or better yet, Honora had found katara yelling at a firenation guard who had shoved and old woman to the ground.</p><p>The princess had quickly stormed over, blew fire into the mans face, tossed a gold coin to the old woman, although she couldn't understand why before taking the waterbender by the waist and throwing her over her shoulder with a grunt and walking away, ignoring Katara still yelling insults to the guard, who was dazed on the floor without eyebrows.</p><p>"I could of handled it." she snapped from her perch on the firebenders shoulders, cheeks warm from the argumemt and from the fact she kept accidently looking at the princess's butt. "He was 6'0 and at least 5 times your muscle mass, he would of crushed you."</p><p>Katara huffed, and put her face in her hand with a scowl as she stared ahead at the scenery, ignoring the strange looks they were getting from passing strangers. "Where are we going?"</p><p>"<b><em>You </em></b>are going back on the ship, where its safe, while <b><em>I </em></b>go to my brothers stupid Angi Kai." she huffed, at the mention of the Angi kai, she began to heat up uncomfortably causing Katara to hiss and squirm. Honora rolled her eyes and shrugged the girl off of her shoulders, who yelped as she hit the floor and glared up at the girl in front of her. "Do you have to be such an ass?"</p><p>"What can I say, its part of my charm." she grinned sharply, before turning and begining to walk towards the ship. Katara pouted slightly, looking around and wondering if she could risk running for the hills.</p><p>"Don't even <em>think</em> about it."</p><p>Well, Katara thought, that answers that, she stood with a groan and brushed the dirt off of her clothes and quickly followed after the Princess, cursing the older girls long legs. When she finally caught up, she noticed the ship was in sight and sighed in relief. She risked a glance at the firebender, only to see her already looking at her with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"What?" She snapped, Honora laughed and held her hands up mockingly in surrender. "My apologises blue-eyes, I just thought you should know you have dirt on your nose."</p><p>Katara glared angrily, before reaching up and scrubbing at her nose with her sleeve aggressively while Honora watched on with a smirk. They continued to walk towards the ship, Katara jogging slightly to keep up with the taller girl. "So, what exactly is an Agni Kai?"</p><p>The firebender stopped and her jaw clenched once again, the muscle in it twitching in annoyance before she sighed and looked the smaller girl in the eye. Katara wasn't happy to note that she had to look up at her, there was no reason at all for the girl to be that tall. "An Agni Kai is a traditional firebender duel that is centuries old. It is a fight for one's honor and is won only when one opponent burns the other." She explained calmly as Katara frowned.</p><p>"When you say burn, you don't mean to death right?"</p><p>"Most of them end in death, Firebenders are such a dramatic bunch, but no, usually it means the first one to defeat the other." Katara nodded, though it just added to her mind how barbaric firebenders could actually be.</p><p>"So your brother has fought in one before?" She asked, not really knowing why she was asking so many questions, chalking it up to the expression 'know thy enemy'. The princess nodding was her only answer, Katara chewed her bottom lip before asking once again. "Have you fought in one?"</p><p>"A few." She replied, begining to walk foward again as Katara quickly followed after her. "And did you win?" There was a glint of something dark in the princesses eyes, threatening and somewhat deadly, but it was gone as quickly as it came as she glanced down at the shorter girl beside her, shooting her a smile that Katara could only describe as Feral.</p><p><em>"I always win."</em><br/>_______________________________________</p><p>"Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons." Iroh told Zuko, looking at his nephew worriedly and wondering, where exactly his niece was.</p><p>"I refuse to let him win." Zuko growled as he stood up, the firebending shoulder wrap falling to the ground. Just as the wrap hit the floor, he felt a presence, and turning his head to the side he was filled with a strage sort of relief at the sight of his sister standing behind him.</p><p>She nodded at him, face blank but eyes alert, and Zuko was quick to return it as he faced Zhao, suddenly filled with a strange sense of confidence that wasn't as strong before. Nothing was going to hurt him. She wouldn't allow it.</p><p>At the top of the gate, a gong rings out, signaling the beginning of the Agni Kai. Both Zhao and Zuko faced each other and took firebending stances. Zuko fired the first shot, which passed harmlessly over Zhao's shoulder. He fired another shot, but it had the same results as the first. Zuko fired several more, all of which Zhao dodged, except for the last one. The last one, Zhao had blocked with a smirk on his face.</p><p>Honora's upper lip curled, and she quickly pushed her hands under her arms, in hope of hiding the sparks that had begun to dance around her fingers, feeling her anxiety though her face remained calm.</p><p>In front of her, Growing frustrated and losing his breath quickly, Zuko had moved towards Zhao, unleashing fire from his hands and feet. Zhao blocked all of Zuko's attacks and crouched foreward, shooting fire to the ground, hoping to make the boy loose his balance.</p><p>"Basics, Zuko! Break his root!" Iroh called out, anxiety radiating from his pores as he recalled the last Agni kai his nephew faced. Exchanging looks with Honora to see the same fear reflected in her eyes.</p><p>"Come on Zuko!"</p><p>The Commander fired strips of fire from each fist and Zuko blocked each one, but they forced him back each time. He then sent out one more back, which made Zuko fall backwards with a grunt. Zhao took a flying jump at the Prince, jumping right in front of him and sent a blast to his face. He gasped and rolled out of the way quickly, taking the opportunity to sweep one of Zhao's ankles with his own, weakening the Commander's stance.</p><p>Zuko landed on his feet, with a grin, knowing the tables had turned and advanced on Zhao, using his feet to create small waves of fire towards the Commander. Zhao was caught off balance and wobbled backwards with each step Zuko took. Eventually, the older man fell backwards when Zuko raised his foot and kicked out fire with a snarl.</p><p>Hearing his sister yelling and screaming in the background, pride in her every word as she told her brother to kick his ass as he rushed forward, to deliever the final blow. "Do it." Zhao hissed as Zuko stared down at him, hesitating for a moment before firing a shot at his shoulder, taking pleasure in the way the commander flinched.</p><p>"That's it?" Zhao spat out, seemingly not to know when to shut his ugly mouth, and not to know how to lose with dignity. "Your father raised a coward."</p><p>"Next time you get in my way; I promise I won't hold back." Zuko said as he turned his back on Zhao and began to walk away, in his final act of defiance and walked towards his sister, who was grinning at him proudly.</p><p>Zhao got up, and howling in anger, he unleashed a whip of flames at Zuko back, only to have an expolosion of white flame collide with it, sending him soaring back and screaming in pain as the fire seared into his very skin. Zuko turned in shock, unburnt from the dangerous blast from his smoking sister, before connecting the dots and rushed forward, only to be blocked by his uncle.</p><p>"No, Prince Zuko." He spoke gently, placing a calming hand on his shoulder, as he looked at him "Do not taint your victory."</p><p>He turned his face back towards Zhao, disgust shown to have twisted his usually kind features as he called out, "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat." He shook his head, and Honora was reminded of all the 'not angry, but very dissapointed' speeches he would give and shivered.</p><p>"Disgraceful." Iroh ground out, while Honora and Zuko continued to stare down the man, "Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable that you."</p><p>Zuko looked up at Iroh, surprised by his comment. "Thanks again for the tea, It was delicious." And with that being his final comment, he placed his hands and each of the childrens shoulders and pushed them forward, pretending to ignore Honora kicking another spurt of fire towards the man as she left.</p><p>The three walked in silence, Zuko having migrated towards his sister, and holding his arm out for her to link, secretly watching the comforting touch as she did so with a smirk. Zuko, not suprisingly, was the first to speak, "Did you really mean that, Uncle?"</p><p>Iroh smiled slyly, "Of course. I told you ginseng was my favorite."</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <p><b>It's odd</b><b>, the things you remember when you watch someone die. </b>Honora remembered the smell of burning flesh, the pain filled screams as their skin turned to ash but she also remembered she hadn't cared. She only felt satisfied when she looked up at her father's adoring face. It had taken her years to realise he didn't love her, he only loved what she could do, and all the things that made her perfect in his eyes, made her a monster in others.</p>
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  <p>Controlling fire had come to her easier than breathing, sparking fingers when things didn't go the way she wanted to, tantrums that ended with sobbing maids that no longer had eyebrows or hair, sneezes that left her nose filled with soot and smoke billowing out of her nostrils. </p>
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  <p>By the time she was five, she had learned the basics of fire-bending, by eight she had mastered all of the advanced sets and even created some of her own, by nine she could control lightening perfectly, even toning it down to send nasty shocks. But it was at the age of ten that her fire transformed from an ocean blue, like her younger sisters, to a blinding white that incinerated her master as he trained her.</p>
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  <p>A normal childs reaction would of been to scream, to call for their mother, to be horrified at the despicable act of murder, but Honora wasn't a child, she never truly had been. </p>
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  <p>Honora grew up with death, she had watched the executions, overheard the gruesome details of war from soldiers, even listened to their advice on the fastest way to kill a man. </p>
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  <p>So instead she watched with impassive eyes, and instead looked up to her father who stared at his daughter greedily, feeling the rush of power and thinking on how it would benefit him, how he could control it, how he could use her to his advantage. After all that had been his plan, to raise her to be the perfect weapon, loyal to him and only him.</p>
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  <p>"Father, I believe I need another teacher. Perhaps one less <em>flammable</em>." <br/>________________________________________________</p>
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  <p>Golden eyes snapped open, body lurching forward into a sitting position as she took deep heaving breaths, sweat gathering at the top of her head that she aggressively wiped away with a shaking hand. </p>
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  <p>The sun was up, just brushing against the water as it rose steadily. She watched it for a few moments, allowing her heart to slow is rapid beating as she calmed, before swinging her body round to touch the cool floor with her feet. </p>
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  <p>She stood shakily, arms stretching above her head with a grunt as she took in her surroundings, bare metal walls with a large wardrobe in the corner, holding her weapons and armour safely inside and painted a deep brown, she blinked at it slowly, the image flashing between her eyes as the paint changed into a thicker red liquid and dripped down the wood, agonized screams resounding in her ears before she blinked once more and was just staring at her wardrobe. </p>
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  <p>Getting changed and pulling a mat out from under her bed as well as her bag, she began to stalk out, hesitating for a moment before deciding it was better safe than sorry and clasping her golden wrist guards around herself, feeling the cool metal of her knives resting against her palm, and leaving the calm of her room to instead meditate on deck. </p>
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  <p>There wouldn't be any disturbances, everyone on the ship knew not to get in her way during the morning, especially if she was meditating, it would be their death sentence. </p>
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  <p>She walked out into the cool air, tasting the salt on her tongue and allowed her face to transform into one of serenity, as much as she loathed to admit it, she loved the sea, it reminded her of her younger days, when she wanted to be a pirate instead of a mindless monster, but of course her father had crushed that dream, just like he had crushed everything else inside her. </p>
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  <p>Her eyes opened, taking in the blue of the restless sea, the blue of the calm sky and the blue of the water-benders clothes as she stood with her arms placed against the railings in front of her. </p>
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  <p>Honora paused for a moment, eyes narrowing, <em>what was the last one again? </em>Before looking back to the side where sure enough, her eyes hadn't deceived her and there was someone on the deck during her session. She pushed down the urge to hiss in frustration and instead glared at her turned back.</p>
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  <p>"I hope you aren't planning a daring escape. I'd hate to have to drag your body out of the sea, though I'll admit, it would be quite ironic."</p>
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  <p>The girl gasped, spinning around unsteady, feet tripping over themselves dangerously and hand pressed tight against her beating heart. Honora took a step forward, hand outstretched before remembering herself and instead crossed her arms. </p>
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  <p>"<em>Don't scare me like that." </em>She grumbled, her face flushing as she stared at the fire-bender in front of her, looking less regal then she'd ever seen her in a large deep red shirt untucked, and tight dark pants. Honora snapped her teeth at her aggressively, eyes flashing in amusement before laying her mat down on the deck. </p>
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  <p>She stood back, hands on her hips and nodded once before turning back to look at Katara with a scowl. "Okay, leave." </p>
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  <p>"Excuse me?!" </p>
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  <p>The two glared at each other, one in a state of shock and annoyance from the abrupt order while the other was contemplating if the avatar was worth the aggravation, and if she could just throw the girl over the railings, into her watery grave and be on her merry way. "Do <em><b>not</b></em>make me repeat myself, peasant."</p>
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  <p>"Katara, my name is K A T A R A, not blue-eyes, not peasant and definitely not water-tribe girl." </p>
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  <p>"What makes you think I care? Peasant."</p>
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  <p>The argument she received back, was a sloppily performed cold spray of sea water throwing itself into her face by a frustrated water-bender who had, ironically enough, reached boiling point with her captors attitude. She blinked her amber eyes slowly, ignoring the sting of the salt and allowed her fingers to spark.</p>
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  <p>Katara's smug look faded, dropping her arms slowly as curled in on her self fearfully, she had forgotten that the girl is front of her was as dangerous as they come, but was now reminded of that fact when she stared into her wild eyes, with no one around to save her.</p>
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  <p>"I'm sor-" She was interrupted by Honora raising her pale hand, stopping her apologies in their tracks as she took a deep breath, eyes closing tightly before opening and regarding her coolly. "<em>Get into your stance." </em></p>
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  <p>"W-what?" </p>
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  <p>"Your waterbending stance, get into it before I <b>really</b> lose my temper."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Still watching the fire-bender cautiously she did as requested, well as ordered, something told her she really didn't have a choice. Her arms raised weakly in front her her face, knees crooked and face screwed up concentrated. Honora nodded, eyes trailing over her form before snapping up to meet the girls eyes. "Now, splash me again." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara blinked but slowly did as asked, water rising shakily, dropping more onto the floor then anything before shoving her arms forward, the water, matching her movements jerked towards Honora sloppily, who swiped her hand to the side lazily which quickly evaporated it into steam. Katara pulled a face, that took alot of effort for nothing. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Straighten your knees." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The princess ordered, arms crossing over her chest and jutting her hip to the side, pushing down the resurfacing memories to the back of her mind, closing her eyes in frustration before opening them again. Katara frowned, confused and a little scared but did as asked, not wanting to push her luck any more than she already had. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Now spread them apart- No, not that far idiot. Yes okay perfect, hold your arms in front of yourself, not straight no, slightly bended but- no how are you doing this so <em>wrong</em>?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She stalked over, eyes still cold and took the girls arms into her warm hands firmly, bending them a tiny bit at the elbows and pushing them down and spaced out away from her, all the while Katara stared at her, awaiting the girl to go in a fire-bending rage. She then walked behind her, twisting her hips, straightening her back and the pushing one leg in front of the other before nodding to herself. She took a step back, looking for any more mistakes before walking back to where she had stood before.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Now do it again." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara took a shaky breath in but did as told, closing her eyes and pulling the water out of the sea slowly, her eyebrows slightly furrowed before her bright eyes snapped open, staring at the significantly larger and calmer globe of water above her head in shock.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This time, when you throw it towards me, think of your arms like waves, smooth and steady, instead of a violent push." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Their eyes met, golden clashing with blue as they stared, one calculating and one awed at her own bending, before blue eyes blinked first as she did as asked, watching amazed at the water that shot towards Honora dangerously steady, not a drop out of place. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>This time Honora raised both of her hands, movement sturdy before allowing it to hit off of her boiling palms, evaporating before it could brush against her face. The force of it causing her to bend back slightly. Once all the water had finally turned to steam, Honora smirked and allowed herself to drop her stance as Katara still stared at her hands in awe at what she'd just done, <b>on purpose.</b></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Congratulations, you've just learned a basic waterbending move and how to execute it correctly." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara's head shot up, eyes wide before looking back at the sea, then her hands once more and then at the princess, before doing it three more times, apparently broken. "I- what?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"If you're going to attack me, you're at least going to do it correctly blue-eyes."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora turned her back to the girl smugly, walking over to her bag and opening it carefully, rummaging around the scrolls and books of advanced, rare, illegal and downright dangerous forms she had stolen from the library before she left, before letting out a soft 'aha' as she found what she was looking for. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Pulling out a blue tinted scroll, she held it carefully and walked over to the still stunned water-bender, who looked as though the simplest touch would knock her over and handed it over with a smirk. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What is it?" Katara asked, passing it between her hands softly and still processing the fact the Princess of the firenation, her captor and quite possibly her sworn enemy, had just in fact taught her how to waterbend. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Open it and see instead of asking me stupid questions."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Scowling and muttering insults under her breath, Katara carefully opened it, marvelling at how old it looked before almost dropping it in shock at what was displayed in front of her, it wasn't just a scroll, it was a waterbending scroll, with about twelve different moves painted on it. She allowed her fingers to shakily brush over it, eyes watery from not blinking before she grinned, letting out a loud laugh and looking up at Honora with wide eyes. "Where did you get this?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I stole it from one of my libraries, figured it would come in useful." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What? How?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well first of all, I'd know how to counter an attack, second of all, bending isn't just strictly centred to one element. Watch." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She stepped back, body going into the same stance as Katara had moments before with a few minor adjustments, fire forming above her head, and with one aggressive movement shooting harmlessly over the railing into the sea. Katara looked at the scroll, then back at the princess. "So, you're saying technically, I could copy a fire-bending move? And just-" she jerked her arms, making whooshing sounds that was supposed to resemble water. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora shrugged with a smirk. "I don't know, I'm not a water-bender."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She then moved once more, going back to her bag and pulling out another scroll, this one with some standard fire-bending forms and threw it at the girl who caught it quickly, not seeing the point in holding onto it, she had already memorized her bag of books and scrolls long ago. "But it wouldn't hurt to try though, blue-eyes." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Closing her bags and rolling her mat back up, she decided to be kind, <em>just this once. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The deck is yours until the sun hits the watch tower, no one will be out until then, too afraid of getting caught in one of my bad moods. When we come out tomorrow, I want you to have memorized one move from each scroll, is that understood?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara nodded rapidly, scrolls held tightly to her chest and resisting the urge to jump up and down excitedly at the thought of actually being able to bend properly. Even if her teacher was a fire-bender with some anger problems. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora nodded and began to walk away but stopped in her tracks as the water-bender yelled out for her to wait. She tilted her head to the side, to show she was listening but didn't turn back around to face her. The water-bender chewed on her lip carefully, glancing at the scrolls in hand and back up at the tall girl. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thankyou."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora stood still, for a few moments longer before walking off back towards her room, allowing the corners of her lips to pull into a smile, just as the girl behind her decided that she couldn't hold it in any longer and began to jump excitedly around the deck. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Both of them unaware of the old man sitting in the watch tower, having watched their interactions in shock, all the while drinking his now cold tea, and stroking his beard. "How interesting." <br/>______________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Once Honora had done all her tasks, she walked back onto the deck, seeing the crews-man working away with a nod of her head, before frowning when she noticed that they were heading up to an island. "What in angi?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Turning around, she looked for familiar faces and spotted the scarred one of her brother, growling under her breath she set a course right for him, her murderous expression causing men to leap out of the way in fear in getting caught in her wrath.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Would you like to explain why we've changed course?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko startled, hands bracing and Honora felt a twinge of guilt when she realised she was standing in his blind spot, her brother liked to play the big man, and not let anyone know his weaknesses but she knew that he didn't have fully functioning vision in his scarred eye, it's why she could usually be seen standing at his left, so he never felt at a disadvantage.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Apologies, I thought you saw me." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He shook his head, turning to face her properly, ponytail brushing over his cheek as he did so, his face twisting up into a cool smirk. "We've been informed from a reliable source that the Avatar is at kyoshi Island, I figured we'd drop by and say hello." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, could he sound any more creepy? The answer was no. She looked once more around the ship, not being able to see Katara or her uncle and realised it was his turn on babysitting duty, which was all the time. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Okay, I'll find the prisoner and put her in the holding cell, get my armour ready." She ordered before stalking away, ignoring his protests with an amused smirk, deciding the best place to look for the two would be in the kitchens. As she walked through the dark halls, sure enough she heard her uncles bellowing laugh, as well at the girls giggles and rolled her eyes and strutted in.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was Iroh who noticed her first. "Ah, my favourite niece, come to join us for a game of pai-sho?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara turned to look at her, offering her a uneasy smile as the girl stared down at them with a quirked brow and displeased features. "No uncle, I'm here to take the water-bender to the cells."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her uncles face transformed, clouding over in disappointment as Katara's eyes went wide. "I thought we agreed the girl was free to go whatever she liked at long as she didn't try to escape." He muttered darkly, causing the taller girls eyes to narrow.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You know fine well why she has to go to her cell, uncle. Don't play yourself for a fool."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She turned to the girl calmly, awaiting her protests which sure enough shot out as soon as the attention was on her but Honora didn't listen, or the more accurate term was, didn't care, reaching down and tugging the girl up by her forearm, gentle enough not to hurt but firm so she couldn't escape, ignoring her uncles displeasure and walking out, Katara in tow. <br/>_______________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Just when I think you might actually be a decent person, you manage to ruin it." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara spat, arms crossed with a pout on her lips and anger twisting her face in a nasty scowl. Honora rolled her eyes, slamming the cage door shut with an echoing bang, smirking at the girls flinch. "Sorry blue-eyes, but don't worry, you'll be getting company soon."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What do you mean?" Katara whispered, the anger from earlier vanishing and leaving fear in its place. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I think you know exactly what I mean." Honora smirked, keys in hand and turned to walk away only to be pulled back roughly, she turned her head, to see her shirt clutched tightly between tensed fingers, and followed the arm to meet Katara's pained eyes. "Please don't do this." She begged softly, when the princess didn't speak, she took that as sign she could continue. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aang is the world's only hope. I know you're firenation, but I don't believe you're evil okay? I know you aren't, please Honora, I'm begging you don't do this." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The two stared at each other, before Honora reached out and slowly pried the girls fingers from her shirt, pushing down the memories of the same eyes, maybe not the same colour of the oceanic blue, but the hopeful and almost innocent gleam that made them <b>shine</b>. Her pale hand stiling in the air for a moment as it unclenced, a drop echoing in the empty room that the water-bender didn't hear, eyes just as dark as they had been when they walked in.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Funny, I imagine if you were truly begging, you'd be on your knees."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara's face crumbled, before hardening, eyes angry as she kicked at the cage, screaming insults at her captors cruel smile, who turned her back to the girl and walking out of the cells, leaving the girl in almost darkness, and nodding to the guards outside to follow her. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara let out one final scream before slumping to the floor, tucking her head into her knees and sobbing into them, moving her foot to get more comfortable before freezing as she felt something hard press into her foot, she opened her eyes and gasped softly, hand reaching out and grasping the offending object. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>They keys. Honora had left her the keys. <br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Come out, Avatar!" Zuko called, staring straight ahead, his sister just beside him with eyes cold and calculating, watch and waiting for any sort of movement towards them. Underneath her, the komodo rhino huffing nervously, only calming when she patted its neck. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You can't hide from me forever!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>There was still no movement, even the air felt still. Honora narrowed her eyes, lifting her hand, showing two fingers before pushing them forward. The riders behind her spreading out at her signal, bodies wary at the seemingly ghost town in front of them. "Find him." Zuko ordered, before looking over at his sister, who nodded and leapt off her rhino.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She walked ahead of them all quietly before stiling, ear twitching, and with quick reflexes, caught a Kyoshi warrior by her wrist and flipped her over her head, twisting her arm and not stopping until is snapped causing her to scream.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And just like that the fight was on, she was vaguely aware of the others getting kicked down from their komodo rhinos but was more focused on the the fact the girls little gang had rightfully decided she was the bigger threat. She ducked under a fan aiming for her temple, raising her knee at the same time and jamming it into the warrior's ribs, hearing a satisfying crunch as it broke. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She then turned her head, leaping up and wrapping her strong thighs around another's neck, twisting her body weight to knock the girl to the ground and slamming her hand into her temple, knocking her out. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora stood up quickly, as one charged at her with a fallen spear and she moved quickly, fists jabbing into pressure points in quick succession, basing it more from muscle memory instead of Ty-lees instructions echoing inside her head. She  watched as the girl fell, eyes twitching as her body betrayed her and no doubt panicked about being temporarily paralysed, not that she knew that. She could once again, hear Zuko fighting the avatar, and decided that she needed to hurry up.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She looked up for a moment, only to see she was surrounded at all sides, and allowed her hands to slowly push up into an surrendering pose. One of the taller ones stepped forward, and she blinked as she noticed the familiar blue eyes. "Well, hello again, love the dress, really brings out your eyes."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>His face twisted into a snarl, obviously not in the mood to play games. "Where's my sister?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora hummed, face thoughtful but eyes blank, plans forming inside her head at a mile per minute, before a slow, cruel smile curved her lips upwards into a perfect smirk, time to play a little game, doing what she did best, taking his worst fear and exploiting it to her advantage. "Your sister? Oh, your sister. I have to admit, breaking her was easier then I thought, eventually though, it was just easier to just put her out of her misery really. Hope you two weren't that close." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The boys face dropped as his eyes watered, fingers shaking as he clutched the fans in his hands tighter, aware of Suki's worried staring into the side of his head. "You're lying." He whispered helplessly before his face hardened. "Because if you aren't I'm going to kill you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Best get on with it then." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He took a step forward, eyes murderous and just like that, Honora had won. Suki's eyes widened as she realised that she was playing them for fools, hand reaching out in slow motion to stop him in his tracks but it was too late.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She raised her foot and slammed it into the ground below, smirking as it opened with thick churning lava that exploded all around them, and they were all sent flying away from her, some knocked out from the deadly blast while others had some sort of survival instinct and fled. It was a dangerous move, especially for a Firebender, who, while able to create lava by burning the earth underneath them, had no real control over bending it, making the reckless move practically unheard of, nevermind executed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora leapt up, twisting her body into a plank mid-air before shooting her white fire from her feet and balled up fists, shooting herself over and away from the burning hot earth surrounding her. She landed with a grunt, the back of her heel catching the edge of Lava and instantly burned. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She was getting Sloppy. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora walked towards the boy calmly, eyes twinkling with mirth as he dragged himself away from her, eyes somehow both angry and panicked at the same time. She squatted down, before leaning closer and whispering in his ear with a cruel smirk. "Don't worry, you'll see your sister soon." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She pulled away to look at his face, his eyes closed tightly in acceptance as he thought she was about to give the final blow. And she decided to play one more game. "After all, I already expect she's with the Avatar." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>His eyes opened and she stared at her with furrowed brows not understanding a word coming out of the monsters mouth. Before she smirked at something over his shoulder, he turned his head to the side and felt his heart drop to his stomach.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There was Katara, shooing children into their homes, with the intent to protect while talking to Aang worridly. He turned back around with tears brimming in his eyes to question the fire-bender only to meet empty air, she was gone. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sokka!" His attention was grabbed by Suki as she waved him over, hiding behind a house and he stood on shaky limbs to join her, taking one last look behind him at where the fire-bender had stood. But it was almost like she was never there. <br/>________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora was back on the ship, tending to a burn that had wrapped around her ankle from her dangerous move, hearing her brother throwing a tantrum over losing both the avatar and the girl in on day. It was almost calming at this point, listening to her brothers shouts. The door to her bedroom slowly opened and her eyes rose to meet her uncles, who was holding a tray of tea in his wrinkling hands. "Can I join you?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She nodded once to show her consent, finishing bandaging her wound and letting it drop from where it was crossed over her knee. Her uncle moved so he was sitting in front of her, pouring the tea as she watched calmly, face tired and body aching but that was nothing new. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm surprised you aren't more upset about the water-benders escape." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He observed, reaching over and handing it over her, frowning as he stared at her bruised knuckles before filling his own cup slowly. He raised it to his lips and let a satisfied 'ah' exhale from his lips. He looked at her, watching her every move as she took a sip, eyes staring over his head blankly. "Don't play yourself for a fool uncle, it might work with Zuko but it won't with me." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>His face cleared, and for a moment he was staring at a younger version of himself or more worridly so, his brother. But he blinked at it was his niece, who was just as troubled as his nephew, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. After all, not all scars were visible. "Don't look at me like that, one act of kindness does not take away the fact I'm a monster of <em>his</em> creation." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The word 'his' was spat out with loathsome venom, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who it was about. Iroh felt something in his chest break as he looked at his niece, so young and yet so broken. At least, he though to himself, though the thought saddened him greatly, unlike her brother and sister, she knew what they were doing was wrong, and at least now he only had to convince her to do something about it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The horrors you have committed are not who you are, Honora."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She huffed out a cold laugh, eyes flickering up to meet his, still empty and dark. It was sweet, that he still thought she could be saved from her damnation, when she had been taught to kill, but not to love, not to show mercy, not to even be human. "I will be my own destruction."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He paused.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Did you know, for a star to be born, there is one thing that must happen; a gaseous nebula must collapse. "</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He paused once more.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So collapse, my niece. Collapse and crumble. This will not be your destruction. <b>This is your birth</b>."</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>No, Honora is not a lava-bender as I know that is an sub-bending of earth. However, my theory is a really powerful Fire-bender could potentially make Lava by burning through the earth, they just wouldnt be able to do anything with it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Honestly, Zuko and Honora are both chaotic neutral, just in two totally different ways and I love them for it. Anyway, time for an insight of the relationships between dumb, dumber and dumbest.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div>
  <p><b>Growling under her breath, Honora pushed away the low hanging </b><b>branches</b> <b>away from her face, eyes narrowed.</b> Having her father's height had its advantages, mainly the fact she could easily reach things on tall shelves, however when she'd been scratched across cheek for the fifth time in the row, it was safe to say she could do with being a few inches smaller. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This is ridiculous." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She spat, rubbing her agitated cheek with a grimace, her eyebrows furrowed and face flushed from walking around in the blaring hot sun, beside her Zuko was having the exact same problem. "Tell me about it." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How did you even lose him? He's a slow <em>old</em> man, it's not like he sprinted away." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko rolled his eyes, shooting his sister a sharp glare, regretting even informing her of their uncles disappearance, both of their tempers had been running high lately, for the past week the only evidence they had that the avatar hadn't disappeared again was the water-benders necklace they found on a prison rig, which could be seen hanging safely around Honora's wrist. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Plus, she seemed to forget the man's speed when he ran to the kitchens, whenever he could smell the cooks roast duck. "Uncle! It's time to leave! Where are you? <em>Uncle Iroh!" </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>"</em>Over here!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A happy voice yelled out, the two exchanged relieved looks, refusing to admit they had been worried before coming out into a clearing with thick dusty looking rocks, where they seen their uncle relaxing in one of the hot springs he had found, his skin flushed and arms out stretched. Honora pulled a face, she really hoped that man went in with his under-wrapping on.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail and I don't want to lose <em>him</em>." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko told him, straight to business as per usual, they had already wasted precious time looking for Iroh, he didn't want to waste anymore. "You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?" Honora frowned to herself, slightly disgusted, what? The man wanted to have practically have a bath with his nephew, it was a bit strange.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"My troubles cannot be soaked away." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>That's</em> an understatement." She chuckled to herself, obviously not quiet enough as her brother shot her a glare, venom in his eyes and obviously annoyed from the lack of help. "It's time to go!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Iroh was in no such hurry, sinking himself even further into the water, eyes fluttering and feeling more content that he had been for a long time. "You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right. I heated it myself." He shifted in position slightly before steam was slowly pushed out through his nose, Zuko quickly swatted it away while Honora simply moved with a roll of her eyes, patience warning thin. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Uncle, that's enough. The ship had been ready to leave for twenty minutes. Come out now!" Honora finally snapped, it was coming up noon and she needed to train. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Very well." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He stood up from the water, and the two siblings let out sharp screams. Honora quickly moving to slap her hands over her brothers eyes not wanting him to see the horror of their naked uncle, and he was quick to do the same to hers, but it was too late, they had already seen too much. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes? But be back at the ship in a half-hour or we're leaving without you!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They turned around, hands still over the others eyes and awkwardly fumbled their way back through the forest, Honora making gagging noises every once in a while. When they were finally far enough from their uncle they stung apart, faces pale and eyes averted. "Let's agree to never speak about this again. Ever!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko nodded his head rapidly, body shivering and face disgusted. "I never thought I'd wish I was blind." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She snorted, though her face was still pale and tinted green, she walked over and wrapped an arm around her brothers shoulder, beginning to lead him back to the ship, fighting the urge to throw up her dinner. "C'mon, I've got a new move I've been dying to teach you." <br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Half an hour later they were back to where they started, storming through the small forest on the hunt for their uncle who seemed to enjoy putting the two under stress, it's like the old man wanted to see who would crack first. Personally Honora's money was on Zuko, who had just tried to kick a rock out of his way, blinded by his rage, and was now holding onto his foot howling.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora grinned, laughing as she walked away only for a low-hanging branch to catch her in the eye, scratching her just under her brow as it instantly began to bleed, causing her to curse. Once she got her hands on the old man, she was going to make him watch as she set his collection of tea-leaves on <em>fire</em>.</p>
</div><p>They finally came to the clearing, Zuko barging forward, his face still red and his sister trailing after him, rubbing her sore eye with a pout, only to find out that Iroh was no where to be seen, Honora's back straightened as her eyes flickered, body alert as she looked around, something wasn't right.</p><p>"Uncle! Where are you?"</p><p>Zuko called, while Honora stalked foward, eyes darting all around the rock pool her uncle had been relaxing in. She frowned, crouching down and dragging her fingers over stone projectiles embedded into it, that definitely hadn't been there before.</p><p>"Zuko! Look at this."</p><p>She called over her shoulder, eyes not leaving the unnatural rocks, hearing her brother converse with the Guard accompanying them, before her gaze averted to the floor, looking all around but there was no footprints except from their own, Honora smirked, that was their biggest mistake yet. A man as big as Iroh would have made some footprints, and yet it was clear. She tilted her head to the side when something caught her eyes, a broken branch, opposite the direction they had came in, obviously someone shared the same problem with their height and considering her uncle barely reached her chest she could only assume it wasn't him.</p><p>"Uncle's been captured by earthbenders!"</p><p>The dramatic exclamation brought her attention back over to her brother, to which she rolled her eyes before pointing at the guard, who stalled at her attention. "You! Back to the ship and collect two komodo-rhinos, and you best be quick. I don't like to be kept <b>waiting</b>."</p><p>Her fingers sparked, the man gulped and nodded before running off, looking at though hell itself was chasing after him as Honora snorted to herself, it was always fun to mess with the guards heads. "Honora! We don't even know which direction they went!"</p><p>"Correction, you don't but <em>I</em> do. Haven't you realised my genius by now, big brother?"</p><p>A few moments later had then getting ready to mount their rhinos, Zuko rolling his eyes at his sister speaking in a 'baby voice' to hers, affectionately named Zu, no doubt a dig at her brother, while its tail wagged happily and it licked her face with a vengeance, beady eyes filled with adoration. Gods, couldn't she see how disgusting that was?</p><p>"C'mon Honora! We're losing daylight as you let that beast slobber all over you." He only just managed to duck away from the knife aiming for his head.</p><p>The two climbed onto their rhinos, exchanging glances before Honora lightly dug her foot into Zu's side, who huffed softly before running into the direction she pointed at, Zuko trailing behind her and hoping she was right about all this, but knowing his luck she would be.</p><p>They ran along the dusty dunes, not exchanging small talk as they were focused into looking for any clue to point to where their uncle was. Eyes searching frantically for any sign of the man and his captors. Eventually, Honora's gold eyes narrowed, her hand reaching up before clenching into a fist, forcing Zuko to slow as they came to what looked to be a sandal on the road.</p><p>Her upper lip curled as she stared at it, Gods if it even <em>smelled</em> like it looked they were in big trouble. The sibling duo exchanged looks, eyes narrowed before forming fists in the palms of their other hand and slamming them down in quick succession, not taking their eyes off the other.</p><p>"<em>Now</em>!"</p><p>Their fists released and Zuko scowled, yelling out a curse as Honora had went with paper while he went with Rock.</p><p>His sister cackled loudly as he threw himself off his Rhino, stopping towards the sandal in a huff. He always chooses rock, <em>always</em>. He picked it up, shivering in horror of what he was about to do and with one more glare towards his still laughing sister, raised it to his face and sniffed. Disgust spread across his face as his eyes watered, making a loud gagging noise involuntary, as Honora almost fell off Zu's back, laughing so hard she no longer made noise, clapping her hand against her knee vigorously to show her amusement.</p><p>"Yup, that's uncle Iroh."</p><p>Zuko eventually choked out, stuffing the sandal into his pocket with a grimace, before getting back onto his Rhino and taking the lead, ignoring his sisters gasps for breath.</p><p>They continued to march on, Honora snorting every once in a while, reminding Zuko that his sister was, indeed, a little asshole, before she suddenly tensed, ear twitching, she looked up sharply, expecting to see what? She didn't know, but instead all she seen was the cloudy skies. Her eyes narrowed, she could of sworn she felt something flying above her.</p><p>She shook her head, passing it off as her imagination or the wind. Unaware of the spirit of the blue-dragon and avatar, flying harmlessly overhead.</p><p>Eventually, the trail began to show more clues, footprints, strands of hair which Honora's sharp eyes had caught, and after a long time of silence, something did finally fly over their heads. The avatars sky bison, flying in the opposite direction in the distance. Honora's eyes went wide, really? In all the time in the world you choose now to come back out of hiding? Talk about irony.</p><p>"<b>The Avatar</b>!" Her brother called, yanking on the reigns of Komodo-Rhino, to turn it back as he watched the spec of the Bision get smaller, he glanced back down at the trail that lead to their captured uncle, before looking back towards the Avatar, where would he go?</p><p>"Don't you <em>dare</em>."</p><p>Well. That answered that. <br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>The sun had set, sky beginning to darken as Iroh was stretched over a large rock in the centre of an earthen pit, his aged hands spread before him. His eyes flickered from face to face, looking not alarmed in the slightest as he exhaled slowly.</p><p>"These dangerous hands must be crushed."</p><p>The captain of the little group yelled, angry and vengeful, before he cried aloud as he raised a huge boulder from the ground, his stance strong and steady as he moved it to hover over Iroh's hands. There was a moment of stillness, seemingly from the air itself as everyone waited with bated breath. The earthbending Captain dropped the boulder. Iroh closed his eyes, not even struggling. A moment before it could slam onto his arms, Zuko burst through the trees, kicking it away from his uncle with a grunt, turning back to kick his uncle free from his chains.</p><p>An eathbender shifted into position, about to bury the newcomer into the earth below him only to have a lithe body flip over the two fire-benders, Golden eyes alright with mischief as she slammed her hands together before raising them up, a scorching white-hot wall of fire knocking the gang of Eathbenders back away from them.</p><p>"Excellent forms, Prince Zuko, Princess Honora."</p><p>"You taught me well." Zuko complimented back while Honora snapped her teeth at the Earthbenders mockingly, grinning sharply as they flinched further away, she'd been desperate for a fight for <em>ages</em> now.</p><p>"Surrender yourselves, it's five against three. You're clearly outnumbered." The captain snarled, finally gaining his bearing and glaring at the three fire-benders, though trying his best to avoid the girls eyes, something about her seemed <em>wrong</em>. His men began to surround them, their stances strong.</p><p>"Uh, that's true, but you are clearly <em>outmatched</em>!"</p><p>All five of the Earthbenders raised thick boulders and quickly shot them towards the trio aggressively, Honora smirked, slamming her fist into the palm of her hand before twisting her body into sharp kick, slicing the boulders into halves causing them to fly harmlessly overhead, before charging towards the captain and slamming her lightening-charged fist into his chest as he screamed out in pain.</p><p>One of the earth-benders, sneaking up behind her, shot a pillar of stone towards her, only for Zuko to tackle him out of the way while Iroh wrapped his chains around Honora's wrist and tugged her towards him safely.</p><p>She snarled, pulling her uncles head down quickly as a rock flew by him over-head, missing be a mere inch, before twirling around and shouting eight balls of fire in rabid succession to where the rock had came from.</p><p>When she was finished, the earthbender lay on the floor, the skin of his face melting away while the rest of his body was burned beyond repair. She pretended she couldn't see her uncles disapproving look as he knocked one of the eathbenders out with a quick whip of his chain.</p><p>The Captain launched several rocks at Zuko, who dodged them quickly, dark eyes narrowed and returned the fire, literally. The fire blast was blocked when the Captain lowered his head and the fire broke harmlessly over his onion-shaped helmet.</p><p>The earthbender then raised two huge sheets of rock, Zuko jerked backwards, his eyes wide, but then chains wrapped tightly around the Captain's feet and he was pulled to the ground by an angry looking Iroh, all the while Zuko felt two slim arms wrap around his waist and tug him backwards into his sisters safe embrace. The rocks landed on top of the captain, no movement following after to show signs of life.</p><p>Honora raised a brow, unwrapping her arms from Zuko's sweaty body with a grimace. All around them the Earthbenders were laying on the floor, either unconscious or...well, dead. The three looked at each other, exchanging adoration-filled smiles at the relief of finding each other. Zuko placed his hand on his uncles shoulder, doing the same to his sister after a moment who smirked at him.</p><p>"Now, uncle, I say this with the most loving respect I can muster. <b>Put some </b><b><em>goddamn</em></b><b>pants on!"</b></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div>
  <p><b>Sometimes, just sometimes, Honora wondered what her life would be like if she didn't choose to follow her brother into exile. </b>For one, she imagined she wouldn't be threatening old men for the whereabouts of the Avatar, or sailing herself headfirst into 'enemy' territory like an idiot. For God's sake, being in exile was doing some wonders for her blood pressure, and not the good kind. </p>
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  <p>"Sailing into Fire Nation waters... of all the foolish things you have done in your 16 years, Prince Zuko, this is the most <em>foolish</em>." Her uncle hissed from the side of her, finally dressed back into his own clothing and a dark frown marring his usual calm face. </p>
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  <p>"I have no choice, Uncle." Zuko murmured back softly, his good eye pressed tight against the high powered spy glass, waiting to see a sign of the Avatar and his bison flying through the sky but only seeing clouds instead. Though, he was also using it as an excuse to ignore his uncle and sister standing behind him, practically feeling the animosity radiating from the two. </p>
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  <p>Honora rolled her eyes, reaching up to rub the bruised and swollen skin underneath sluggishly, still aching and somewhat sleep-deprived from her uncle's rescue, in all honestly this was the last thing she wanted to be doing. </p>
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  <p>"There is always a choice, brother. Do you have any idea what Ozai will do to us if we're caught?" </p>
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  <p>Zuko turned around, only for a moment to glare into his sisters eyes, annoyed that she refused to listen to him, and for the fact she no longer called the fire-lord by his title, nevermind their kinship. "We're chasing the Avatar. Our <em>father</em> will understand why we're returning home." </p>
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  <p>"You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type." Iroh snapped, coming to his niece's defence, Zuko glared at the both of them before spinning back around, his shoulders tense and fists clenching. <em>He'll understand.</em> He thought to himself anxiously, <em>of course he'll understand.</em></p>
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  <p>Honora exchanged looks with her uncle. <em>No he won't</em><em>.</em> Suddenly, her brothers voice cut through the air, steady and strong as he caught sight of the bison through the glass. </p>
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  <p>"There they are! Helmsman, full steam ahead!"</p>
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  <p>Honora watched with dark eyes, resisting the strong urge to gag as the catapult was raised onto the deck and the nasty smelling oil was poured over the projectile, god's above did she hate that thing, but no, everytime there was a long-range target, he had to bring out the smelly catapult, so <em>disgusting</em>. </p>
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  <p>"Ugh, really Prince Zuko, couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" Iroh complained, whipping his fan out of his robes' sleeve and waving it at his and his nieces face to try and help, smiling at her grateful look. </p>
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  <p>"Really Zu-zu, since when did you become so uncivilized?"</p>
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  <p>Zuko ignored his uncle, a task he was getting exceedingly better at, and glanced over at his sister with a pleading look, she groaned loudly, rolling her eyes before she shot over a quick blast of bright flame that lit the stinking ball, making it glow white and burn hotter than his own would, she grimaced as the smell worsened ten-fold. "On my mark!"</p>
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  <p>He waited a moment, the tension building steadily and then slashed his hand down violently, "Fire!"</p>
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  <p>The soldier cut the rope and the flaming projectile was catapulted towards the sky bison, he growled under his breath as the creature steered off to the side to dodge it, no doubt controlled by the Avatar sitting upon it, unaware of his sister who had tensed suddenly.</p>
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  <p>Honora ran forward, hair billowing behind her as she slammed her hands on the railing, almost lurching over it, hoping her eyes had deceived her and ignoring how the metal heated under her pink-tipped fingers as she caught sight of the ships forming a line across the water. "Damn." She snapped, slamming her fist against the rail before turning to look at her brother, begging him with her eyes to turn back. </p>
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  <p>She couldn't protect him. Not here, not with that amount of ships. </p>
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  <p>Zuko's good eye became wide as he finally noticed what his sister had. "A blockade..."</p>
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  <p>"Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters." Iroh stated, rubbing his beard softly and trying to control the waver in his voice, wincing slightly when he noticed the two rows of Fire Nation ships that had began to ready their catapults, "Turn back now and they cannot arrest you!"</p>
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  <p>"Zuko! Turn the ship around now!" Honora screamed, panicked at not being in control of the situation, she always had a plan, a second option but this? There was no way out of this if they continued their path ahead. Honora, for once in her life, was out of her element, unknown to the girl, her fingers began to spark with <em>electricity</em>. </p>
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  <p>"He's not turning around!" Zuko exclaimed in surprise as he watched the sky bison soar even faster towards the blockade, but already knowing his decision before he even had to make the choice. </p>
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  <p>"Please, Prince Zuko!" Iroh begged, turning to face his nephew, nothing but fear in his old orange eyes. "If the Fire Nation captures you, there's nothing Honora or I can do! Do not follow the Avatar."</p>
</div><p>"I'm sorry, Uncle." Zuko said softly, eyes clenching shut and face screwing up before opening them, catching sight of his sister, who stared at him darkly, pleading with him with her eyes to turn back but he couldn't, not when the Avatar was so close, the chance to go home was so close. He bowed his head in apology, not wanting to see the disappointment in her face before turning to face his men, pointing to the ships, "Run the blockade!"</p><p>It was calm for a few moments, the air tight with anticipation, before all hell broke lose and the blockade of ships in front of them all released their flaming fireballs, looking like an apocalyptic reign of terror as they flew towards them.</p><p>Honora was the first on the ship to move, ignoring the Avatar and his friends, jumping up so she was standing on the rail and facing the barrage head on. Her arms swept to the sides smoothly, eyes narrowed in determination, gathering the charge she needed and when the flaming rocks came into mere meters from her vessel, she let it go, <em>lightning coursing through her </em><em>fingertips</em><em> and splitting the rock before it could touch the ship. </em></p><p>She twisted her body to the side, shooting blasts of lightning is quick succession to shatter the rocks, ignoring the tremors in her hands as she took out more and more fireballs to protect the occupants that had ran for cover, one finally hit too close, causing a tidal wave to crash over the ship and barrel into her side, sending her smashing against the railing, Honora cried out, feeling something in her ribcage give way before collapsing, clutching her stomach tightly.</p><p>"Honora!" Zuko yelled from behind, watching with anxious eyes as his sister fell before running towards her, slipping across the surface and coming to a stop beside her, throwing her arm over his shoulder and leading her away from the action, <em>of course his sister would try and take on an army. </em></p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Prince Zuko!" One of the engineers cried out to the prince after another fireball hit the aft side of the ship, no one to protect it now that his sister was down for the count it seemed. "The engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!"</p>
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  <p>Zuko spun away from the man and glared towards the blockade, tightening his grip on Honora who groaned miserably, ordering over his shoulder with a snarl, "Do <b><em>not</em></b> stop this ship."</p>
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  <p>"We're on a collision course!" Iroh exclaimed, taking Honora from his nephews hold, well, tried to would be the better wording as she weakly slapped his hands away, eyes still alert for threats, they watched as two much larger Fire Nation warships sailed towards each other, about to cut off their ship's path. </p>
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  <p>"We can make it." Zuko stated confidently as he watched the gap between the two ships grow smaller. Honora wished she had his confidence as her fingers began to spark once more, she'd take the ships <b>down</b> if she had to, and herself with them no doubt. </p>
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  <p>Zuko watched through narrowed eyes as each ship in the blockade grinds to halt, allowing their ship to pass untouched, Honora beside him stood straighter, withholding a wince as her gold eyes met cold brown, feeling a sick satisfaction at the sight of Zhao's burned skin, no doubt from their last meeting. Perhaps she was more like her father than she thought. </p>
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  <p>"What's he up to?" Zuko asked aloud, gripping the railing beside his telescope tightly until his knuckles turned white as smoke billowed behind his ship, "Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?"</p>
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  <p>"Because he wants to follow you, dum-dum." Honora snapped from where she sat, the ship medic kneeling behind her and wrapping her torso with a thick roll of gauze, she let out a low grunt as it squeezed against her bruised ribs, shooting the man a glare who gulped quietly. </p>
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  <p>This was not her week it would seem. </p>
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  <p>"He might be an ass but he isn't an idiot, he knows you'll lead him to the Avatar and his little gang of misfits." She rolled her shoulders before standing, ignoring the medics protests as she pulled her red shirt back over her head, grumbling all the while as she came to a stop next to her brother. </p>
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  <p>"And I say, If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what we should let him do." It took Zuko a moment to understand but when he did, the two siblings exchanged mischievous grins, their one shared braincell forming an idea, Iroh, standing behind them was filled with unease, it was never a good thing when Zuko and Honora had those looks on their faces.<br/>________________________________________________</p>
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  <p>"Uncle, keep heading north." Zuko ordered, Honora beside him dressed in her armour, her golden wrist guards catching the moon's light as it cast down onto them. The small boat they stood on was lowered from his warship with them on it, determination in her brothers eyes and no doubt boredom in hers, in all honestly, she just wanted a nap. </p>
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  <p>"Zhao will follow the smoke trail, while we use it as a cover."</p>
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  <p>Iroh grunted in doubtful agreement and stroked his chin thoughtfully as he watched their small boat be lowered onto the water's surface and disappear into the smoke, praying to any god that was listening for his nephew to be safe, and for his niece to not kill anyone tonight, though, for that one even he knew he was hoping for a miracle.</p>
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  <p>"So...what happens when we grab him? We going to shove him in a bag or something?" Honora asked with a grin, leaning against the wall of the ship and trying to ignore the ache in her ribs. Right now, her purpose was greater than her pain, and her purpose was making sure her brother was safe. </p>
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  <p>"What are you on about?" Zuko snapped, turning to glare at her nonchalant figure and wondering why she wouldn't take anything seriously, sometimes, just sometimes, he wondered if she actually cared if they caught the Avatar or not, and instead had just joined him for the thrill of a fight.</p>
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  <p>"No need to be so defensive Zu-zu, I'm just saying that last time he made quite the embarrassment of you and your men." </p>
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  <p>"<em>Our men."</em></p>
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  <p>"Please, my men wouldn't of been beaten so easily. The Avatar may be a child but he's smart, he made the deduction that because of the air-nomads extinction we wouldn't have any experience of fighting him, and guess what? He was right. So, just how are we going to get him on this ship?" </p>
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  <p>"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He snapped, turning away to face the sea, staring pointedly at the firenation temple, sitting peacefully on the island some way away from them. </p>
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  <p>Honora laughed sarcastically, eyes burning with quiet rage. "Ha! I'll tell you what's going to happen, you're going to go in with a idiotic plan, that will no doubt fail, and it will fall, once again, to me to save your ungrateful ass." </p>
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  <p>"<b>Shut up</b>." <br/>________________________________________________</p>
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  <p>Honora had finally made it to the temple, herself and Zuko creeping along the walls, exchanging glares and angry hisses whenever they caught eyes with the other, apparantly Zuko was still very much annoyed with his sisters (true) analysis on how this mission would go, while the taller girl was angry about the apple that had been thrown off her head.</p>
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  <p>They came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs where voices could be heard, she closed her eyes, ears twitching before smirking as she recognised the water-tribe girls voice above her. They'd found the Avatar it seemed, and his little friends. </p>
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  <p>The dark haired girl went to take a step up, intent on finishing this quickly so she could get to her bed only to be blocked by Zuko as he held an arm out in front of her, amber eyes stormy. "Just what do you think you're doing?" She whispered aggressively, slapping his arm away from her with a glare.</p>
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  <p>"<em>I'm going to capture </em><em>the</em><em> Avatar and I don't need your help to do it.</em>" </p>
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  <p>Oh, so that's how he wanted to play was it? She stared him down, anger building inside her chest and hands clenching by her sides. If that's how he wanted to be then so be it, she was done cleaning up after his mistakes. "Go ahead them. Don't expect me to save you when it all goes wrong." </p>
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  <p>"I won't."</p>
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  <p>"<em>Fine</em>."</p>
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  <p>"Fine!" He hissed, desperate for the final word before storming up the stairs as quietly as he could, pretending he couldn't feel her dark gaze on his back. He'd capture the Avatar, he didn't need anyone's help, especially not <em>hers</em>. </p>
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  <p>Honora pressed her back against the wall as her brother left her view, taking a shaky breath as she tried to calm herself. Thinking a few choice words about the <em>boy</em> she had followed into banishment, all because she wanted to keep him safe. She should of left him to <b>rot. </b>Above her she could hear signs of a struggle, grunts and shouts but she told herself she didn't care, even if her fingers began to spark as they felt her anxiety. </p>
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  <p>She was interrupted from her thoughts as Zuko flew down the stairs, planting himself headfirst into the floor by her feet. Huh, would you look at that she though to herself smugly, Karma really did exist after all.<br/>_________________________________________________</p>
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  <p>Honora watched with a smug smile as the fire-sages and Zuko shot blast after blast of orange flame, trying to get the doors to open but they didn't even move an inch. She couldn't lie, she was really enjoying watching her brothers plan, quite literally blow up in his face. </p>
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  <p>She turned her head to the side, and made contact with a familar face, who was looking a bit tied up at the moment but she shot the girl a smirk all the same. "Hey, blue-eyes." </p>
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  <p>Said girl was chained to a pillar, having long since given up trying to wiggle herself out of her bonds, her brother tied on the one next to her and glaring daggers into the side of Honora's head, apparantly she still wasn't forgiven for the whole 'dead sister' incident. People really needed to learn how to let things go.</p>
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  <p>Katara opened her mouth before closing is sharply, what was she even supposed to say to the firebender? Hey, Honora, so quick question, did you mean to let me escape? Because that question has been haunting me for nights on end, are you the monster you make yourself out to be? Or could you actually be a decent person? All the while Honora allowed her eyes to travel from feature to feature. </p>
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  <p>"Why isn't it working, it's sealed shut?" Zuko demanded, unintentionally breaking the tension and inner turmoil, frustrated at not being able to get into the room. "It must have been the light." The Great Sage answered softly, "Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside."</p>
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  <p>"Hm...I wonder why that is. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you just tried to kill his reincarnation." Honora commented with a smirk, going to lean back on the pillar behind her, just to be dramatic, only to breathe in sharply and straighten her back quickly as the movement made her ribs tighten uncomfortably. </p>
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  <p>"She has a point y'know." Sokka shrugged, sending a pointed look towards the fire-sages and ignoring the firenation jerk-bender who shot him a dark look, he then turned his glare over to Honora who smiled, though, Sokka thought with a shudder, it looked more like the girl was snarling.</p>
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  <p>"Why did you help the Avatar?" Zuko questioned, turning his back to his sister once more, knowing she was enjoying his failure more than anyone, and looking at the bound Fire Sage in front of him firmly.</p>
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  <p>"Because it was once the Sages' duty." Shyu stated sadly but with pride as he looked at who was once the crowned prince, before he slowly turned his head to meet the princesses's suprised eyes. "It is still our duty."</p>
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  <p>Honora frowned, why in agni's name was he looking at her? Before her ear suddenly twitched as she heard movement, coming in from downstairs. Her pale hand caught alight with white flame, burning and angry, ignoring the water-tribe boys squeak as it passed over his face. </p>
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  <p>The sudden clapping that interrupted the interrogation proved the dark-haired girls instincts to be right as the Sages looked behind the banished prince, staring in shock as Commander Zhao and six Firebender guards approached. "What a moving and heartfelt performance." The haughty man mocked, "I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand, when you explain why you betrayed him."</p>
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  <p>The Great Fire Sage stepped forward and placed his palms together, bowing over them, "Commander Zhao."</p>
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  <p>Honora moved forward, ready to attack only for Zhao to catch her eye and smirk, with one movement of his hand, one of his Firebenders ran forwards, grabbing Zuko who hadn't been expecting it and placing him in a chokehold, holding the prince's body in front of his own like a human shield, before his hand caught alight and he held it too close for comfort to the boys face who let out a unintentional whimper. </p>
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  <p>Honora froze, eyes flickering and fingers sparking. </p>
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  <p>"I'm not falling for that trick again, <em>princess</em>. Put your hellfire away, or your brother is getting another matching scar." Zhao purred smugly, watching the girls face as she tried to think of a plan but coming up short, he had her by the Achilles heel, and there was nothing she could do. </p>
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  <p>"<em>Honora! Run!" </em>Zuko yelled, still struggling in his captors arms, but his sister did the exact opposite. She clenched her fist, the fire extinguishing from her hand and from her eyes as she stared at the floor, holding her arms in front of her, wrists pointing upwards, making them eye-level with Katara who caught a flash of silver scarring, majorly hidden by her gauntlets.</p>
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  <p>Zhao tilted his head and three of his soldiers rushed towards her, forcing the girl to her knees as she snarled quietly. Katara looked away, though she didn't truly know why, but seeing the girl in a moment of weakness felt <em>wrong. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It was a noble effort, but your little smokescreen didn't work. Three traitors in one day, the Fire Lord <em>will</em> be pleased." The man continued as Zuko scowled darkly, watching as his sister was roughly dragged over to the pillar the waterbending peasant was chained to and tying her up alongside her. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're too late, Zhao!" Zuko snapped as he strained against his captor, who, with another nod from Zhao began to drag the boy over to another pillar, about to join his sisters fate. "The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No matter." Zhao replied confidently as he cast a sidelong glance at the sealed doors, "Sooner or later, he <em>has </em>to come out."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora looked up from underneath her lashes as her brother was tied to the opposite pillar, golden eyes alight with determination as a plan formed inside her head, the guard was no longer holding her brother, unintentionally, giving the girl the upper hand once more. She smiled smugly.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I thought you'd be happier, princess. After all, I trust you missed your '<em>lady friend</em>'." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The smile dropped as she lifted her head, glaring into his dead eyes with her own, trying her best to ignore the water-tribe boy, who seemed to be choking on his own spit at the term. Honora blinked calmly, though she wanted nothing more than to burn the man alive and dance in his ashes. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Has anyone ever told you, that you have the face of a monkey's ass?" His upper lip curled, eyes darkening before he raised his fist and drove it into her already bruised ribs causing her to cough, spit dangling from her lip that when she licked tasted metallic on her tongue, it took her a moment to realise it was blood. Katara gasped, eyes wide at the vicious attack but Honora only laughed openly in the mans face, no doubt annoying him more, as her brother screamed for Zhao to leave her alone.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sadistic prick." She spat, blood splattering across his scarred cheek. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'd be very careful, princess. I'd hate to have to hurt your little lady friend." He mumrmed softly, reaching out a hand to trace a finger down Katara's face gently, who grimaced and resisted to urge to <b>bite it off.</b></p>
</div><p>"I don't care about that peasant." Honora growled, turning his attention back to her and keeping it there. She couldn't care less about the girl, but no one deserved Zhao's pedophilic behaviour thrust upon them.</p><p>"You killed my men for her, did you not?" He said darkly, wanting to find another weakness in the firenation's greatest monster, but there was nothing when he looked into her golden eyes, there was not a single predictable thing about her, the creature in front of him had been born with an appetite for chaos and destruction and she would never be full, never be truly <em>weak</em>.</p><p>"I didn't kill them to save her, Commander. I killed your men because it was <em><b>fun</b></em>."</p><p>Zhao pulled back sharply, and, although masked, was relieved to see the matching fear in everyone's eyes as she stared each and everyone of them down, like a predator about to slaughter their prey. The firenation's greatest monster indeed, but Zhao wasn't one for knowing when to keep your mouth <em>shut</em>.</p><p>"Its such a shame your little serving girl never got to see the monster you became. What was her name again, princess? Karai wasn't it?"</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Katara risked another glance at Honora chained next to her, that was the second time the serving girl had been mentioned, and the water-bender was starting to think she was more than someone the Princess kissed. Especially considering she looked at though she was going to burn Zhao to the ground at the very mention of her name. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The Commander and his Firebenders circled around the door's perimeter and each assumed a Firebending stance, bodies preparing themselves for anything, unaware of Honora behind them, who's body had begun to heat up, slowly melting the chains next to her hand, in between herself and the water-bender, after all, she might as well give the girl a fighting chance. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"When those doors open," Zhao began then rose his voice to a shout to establish dominance over his men, "unleash all of your firepower!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How's Aang gonna make it out of this?" Katara asked worriedly as she looked at the Firebenders, grimacing at the uncomfortable heat to her left that had seemingly came out of nowhere. "How are <em>we</em> gonna make it out of this?" Sokka countered just as worried as his sister.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The doors in front of then began to glow, growing brighter with each passing second as smoke started billowing out from underneath. Honora felt her body tense as the doors unlocked themselves, and a sudden blinding white light forced them to look away, her skin burning hotter as time ran out.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ready..." Zhao stated as the light faded and revealed a pair of glowing white eyes in the darkness of the room. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No!" Katara screamed in terror as the Firebenders prepare to attack, "Aang!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Fire!" Zhao commanded as he and his guards send a simultaneous blast of fire at the unseen target. Honora's arm caught alight finally, and with a quick tug the chain fell in two pieces at her feet, freeing herself and Katara before she ran for Zuko, as the fire separated from its target revealing Avatar Roku, eyes glowing piercingly behind the wall of flames, completely untouched.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora paused, for just a moment before kicking a quick and sharp burst of flame from the heel of her foot, cutting her brothers bonds, alongside the water-tribe boy. Zuko didn't waste any time, wrapping his hand around his sisters wrist and tugging her along quickly. She caught eyes with the water-bender once more, and allowed herself one more mocking smile before she was yanked down to the stairs below.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Bye, Blue-eyes."<br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They eventually made it back to the warship, their travel as silent the dead, not for Zuko's lack of trying, for everytime he opened his mouth it was cut down by a sharp <em>"Don't."</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora was tired, just tired but not just for sleep. When they got to the ship it was to the sight of their uncle, relief shining through his eyes as he brought the two into crushing hugs, thanking the god's for their safe return. Honora, beady eyed and weary had walked away without a word, while Zuko watched after her, before relaying what happened back to their uncle, who sighed softly. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>His niece would never stop fighting in a war, whether it be on the battleground, or in herself. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was later during the night, when most, including his sister had fallen asleep did Zuko stay awake in the quiet of the night, the only sound being the water that sloshed gently against the sides of the ship. The disappointment and failure of the day weighing heavy on his mind, his honor slipping through his fingers once more.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He just wanted to go home. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The peaceful silence was broken suddenly by a familiar gurgled scream that came from next door, echoing hauntingly through the ship and ringing back into his ears. He stood slowly, before leaving the comfort of his room and walking into his sisters, movements cautious like facing a wounded animal.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora was thrashing against her bed, sheets tangled around her feet and skin glistening with a light sheen of sweat, the moonlight bearing down on her pale skin, catching the marred skin darkly. She screamed once more, bloodcurling and <em>painful, </em>body lurching up and Zuko pounced, slipping in behind her and restraining her arms to her chest, so she wouldn't hurt herself or set him alight. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Another scream, though this one had a name. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em><b>Karai!" </b></em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>He buried his head into her neck, knowing what was coming next and hating the sight, as her body lurched and spasmed in his grip before finally, she roared, white boiling fire streaming out of her mouth from the bottom of her chest, adding on to the blackened and charred roof of her room before she slumped into his arms, body shaking with tremors and choked gasps.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora may of protected him from threats, from dangers, from anything and everything that had stupidly attempted to harm him. But Zuko repaid her back in kind, he just protected her from <em>herself</em>.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div>
  <p><b>Honora hummed to herself softly, running her hand across Zu's tough hide, feeling the textured skin between her fingertips as he grunted happily,</b> <b>aggressively</b><b> trying </b><b>to</b><b>lick</b><b> at her to show his thanks but she was </b><b>to</b><b>far</b><b> away for </b><b>him</b><b> to reach. </b>It was times like this that Honora was at her calmest, when she was reminded of times that were loving and sweet, when she could just be a girl with her pet, not a monster of her father's design. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zu, as a baby, had been the metaphorical 'runt of the litter', his siblings being twice the size and used that height to their advantage, mercilessly bullying the tiny thing, who'd been anxious and fearful of anything and everything. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her uncle had taken one look at the little pest and decided it'd be the perfect pet for Zuko, for obvious reasons, however, Zu had been smitten with Honora ever since it laid its beady little eyes upon her, following the girl around with its stubby legs, battering into the legs of her sparring partners when she fought them, even sneaking out of the stables at night to sleep by her door. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eventually, of course, Zu started growing and wasn't able to do such things, though he never stopped trying, catching up to the height of his siblings with ease, but then, he kept on growing, and growing and growing, becoming a huge intimidating beast that could crush mountains in his wake and yet, he was the biggest softie that had ever lived and Honora found herself caring for the pest all the same, though she hadn't always shown it. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She'd been too afraid of someone using that love against her, like it had been once before. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The dark-haired firebender was interrupted from her fond reminiscent memories of Zu's childhood as the ship suddenly lurched to the side, dragging to girl with it who snarled as she hit the wall, <em>what in agni's name was going on up there?</em> She thought to herself, eyes practically glowing with unbridled rage. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She stood straighter, rubbing her still sore ribs and quickly led Zu over to his pen, pressing a gentle kiss on his snout with one last scratch behind the ear before running through the halls and onto the deck where, unexpectedly, she was slammed into by another body, obviously both having the same destination in mind and they crashed to the floor. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Someone's</em> changing our course." Zuko growled as he glared up at the navigation room, Honora rolled her eyes and shoved him away, wrinkling her nose at his sweaty figure, this being the first interaction the two had after the incident at the fire-temple last week, Honora had told the crew and her brother that she needed to be alone to converse with the only person who still had a lick of sense on the ship, <em>herself</em>. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Really Zu-zu, came to that deduction by yourself did you?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She mocked, lips pulling up into a grin as her brother growled to himself, reaching over to yank on her hair in retaliation before standing, offering a hand to Honora who ignored it purposely, instead shoved her arms over her head and flipping herself up with ease, the two always managed to get themselves back on track with sharp resorts, even after Honora had decided she'd had enough of his shenanigans. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How much do you want to bet its uncle, brother?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You <em>know</em> you're not allowed to bet people anymore, not with what happened last time."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Spoilsport</em>." The girl hissed, though her eyes flickered with amusement, the ship lurched once more, almost sending a man overboard. Zuko clenched his fists before storming away, no doubt about to give someone a scolding, while Honora followed just behind him, uninterested and nonchalant. Just one day, one day is all she asked for, to relax, but no, why would the universe be that kind?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What is the meaning of this mutiny?!" Zuko demanded dramtically from the captain as he charged into the navigational room, "No one told you to change course!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Actually, someone did." Iroh stated calmly from where he was playing Pai Sho with one of the crew members while the others stood behind them watching in anticipation, Honora shot her brother a grin, mouthing the words '<em>pay up</em>' as he rolled his eyes at her, no help, his sister was absolutely no help at all. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I assure you, it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko." Iroh assured as he scratched his beard, looking at the Pai Sho table in front of him helplessly. Honora narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms with a huff, she thought the man was absolutely full of shit. "Is it something to do with the Avatar?" The banished prince asked hopefully as he took a step forward. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Even more urgent. It seems I—" Iroh sighed and rubbed his forehead in distress,"—I have lost my lotus tile." Honora instantly lost it, starting to cackle loudly, golden eyes lightening in her mirth, ignoring the crews uneasy look as she did so as they inched away from the dangerous girl. Iroh looked up at his nephew then back to the table, moving a piece forward across the Pai Sho board, unaware of his audience's unease. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Lotus tile?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"For my Pai Sho game." Iroh clarified at his nephew's confused question as he moved another piece across the board, shooting his niece a beaming smile when he caught sight of her, "Most people think the lotus insignificant but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?!" Zuko demanded, giving his sister a disbelieving look as she continued to giggle behind her hand, she knew, <em>she knew</em>, it would be because of a stupid reason. Gods, she had to re-start her underground betting club, it was such a shame for her talents to be going to waste. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"See, you, like most people, underestimate its value." Iroh stated after flicking his fingers in Zuko's direction then looked at his nephew imploringly, ignoring Honora who murmured "<em>yeah, Zu-zu.</em>" Even though she herself, actually had no clue what was going on and instead was enjoying the show of Zuko's impending meltdown. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call." Iroh's weathered face and tone of voice quickly became excited as he continued, "Hopefully, they will have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko closed his eyes, upper lip curling into a snarl as he opened his mouth, no doubt about to give his uncle a scratching insult only for Honora to wrap her arm around his shoulder, squeezing it softly as a warning. Her Zu-Zu wasn't exactly known for his respect for elders, not that she could really blame him. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Okay, let's go spar Zu-zu, before steam starts blowing out of those big ears of yours, well, big <em>ear." </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora purred with a grin, her brother growled, slapping her arm away from him before storming away, the taller girl following with amusement shining in her golden eyes, sometimes she forgets how fun it was to annoy her brother. Iroh smiled from where he was sat, watching the two walk away with adoration settling in his chest, the two siblings really did have the strangest relationship, but it worked for them and that's all that mattered. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm lucky to have such a understanding nephew." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Outside on the deck, Zuko had ripped his top off and squared his shoulders, watching his sister with dark eyes as she fiddled with her wrist gauntlets, waiting for an attack from the taller girl before his impatience go the better of him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Well</em>?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well what?" She asked calmly, finally glancing up to meet his gaze with amusement making her eyes glow golden in the sunlight, annoying the boy even more so as he glared at her, she always acted as if she were better than him, which, he could admit that she was at most things, but still, it was rude to point out. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You said we're going to spar. I don't see your stupid fire coming at me." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora tutted, tongue curling at the roof of her mouth as she shot her brother a dark look, face twisting as she took him in. "Now Zu-zu, you <em><b>know</b></em> that's not what I meant." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>And yes, Zuko did know but that just made him angrier. His sister thought he was weak. He wasn't stupid, whenever they sparred against each other, even though it was rare due to Honora preferring to fight as many soldiers as they could spare, the taller girl would never use her accurately named 'hellfire' against him or even their uncle, instead choosing to fight with her sai's that were always hidden behind her gauntlets, or just use hand-to-hand combat to make him look weaker than he already felt. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Or at least, that's what he assumed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"When are you going to stop treating me like a child?!" He shouted, vein throbbing against his rapidly heated temple, pale skin flushing in his quick temper as he resisted the urge to stomp his foot against the ground, knowing it would only prove her point. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"When you stop acting like one." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm older than you!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm taller." Honora said with a vicious grin, though, unknown to her brother ranting and raving in front of her, it didn't match her eyes. If there was one thing Honora would never do, it was use her fire against someone she loved. She'd seen first hand just how dangerous her white flames could be, if she accidentally burned her stubborn brother she'd <em>never</em> forgive herself. Her uncle knew the reason, and though he denied it, he admired her caution, after all, the princess was known for being a dangerous monster, if she burned Zuko, it would only reign true. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Burning orange fire suddenly interrupted her vision, causing her eyes to widen as she ducked out of the way, body flipping to the side and sai's shooting out of her gauntlets subconsciously. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko shot her a sly grin, watching as her eyes became cold and red-stained lips pulled up into a vicious snarl, looking more like a feral wolf then girl as she crouched low, sai's spinning between her pale fingers and catching the sun's rays. "You want to play dirty?" Honora asked, her voice gravelly and dark, Zuko began to twitch as his confidence drained itself quickly. Honora grinned sharply, showing gleaming teeth that looked more threat than smile.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Fine. <em><b>Let's</b></em><em><b> play dirty.</b></em>"<br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Honora blew her dark strands of hair out of her face gently, eyes skimming along the market place as her uncle flirted with one of the stall keepers for a discount, due to the woman's irritating giggles, the fire-bender could assume it was going well.</p><p>She leaned back, resting against the cool pillar of wood behind her so it would be easier to have Iroh in sight, while also looking for threats that would attempt to harm the seemingly defenceless man. Not that he really needed her help, but it put her mind at ease all the same. She shifted, turned her weight to the side before wincing as the corner of the pillar caught the burn on her shoulder.</p><p>The dark-haired girl had won the spar, <em>obviously, </em>but not before Zuko managed to catch her off guard. She allowed a small smile to quirk at her lips, unable to find herself angry at her older brother, he was getting stronger, maybe now she wouldn't have to be so worried about the boy, she snorted to herself, <em>yeah, like that was going to happen</em>.</p><p>"Honora! Come along, let's find your brother."</p><p>Iroh called out, walking past her with an easy-going grin as he threw a basket in her arms for the girl to carry for him. She sighed to herself before picking up the rest of his things and trudging after him, she was beginning to wonder if he asked her to escort him just so she could carry all his things, crafty old man.</p><p>They found Zuko exactly where they left him, standing a few metres away from the ship staring moodily at the ocean, his arms crossed tight against his chest with a pout on his lips. Honora rolled her eyes affectionately, all this because she stabbed him lightly in the asscheek, once again, <em>lightly</em>, practically a paper cut the big baby.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"I've checked all the shops on this pier." Iroh said exasperatedly as he came into view, coming to a stop beside his brooding nephew who was stubbornly avoiding his taller sisters smirk, "Not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's good to know this trip was a complete waste of time <em>for everyone</em>!" Zuko snapped angrily at his uncle, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, Honora snorted to herself, handing her uncles belongings to a crew member walking past who staggered at the heavy weight he was suddenly given, flinching when the Princess snapped her teeth at him as he scurried away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Quite the contrary." Iroh commented, unaffected by his nephew's temper and his nieces bullying of their crew members, "I always say, the only thing better than finding something you are looking for is finding something you <em>weren't</em> looking for at a great bargain!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko's eye twitched slightly as he watched the crew members walk past him and his small family of three, carrying all of Iroh's many purchases, coming out of his huff quickly to shoot his sister a disbelieving look as she shrugged. "I told you to watch what he bought."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I can't be everyone's impulse control, Zu-zu. I'm having enough trouble with keeping just <em>you</em> in line." She grunted with a roll of her eyes, honestly, her boys were such nightmares. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Is that what the stabbing was for?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You stabbed him? Where?" Iroh gasped, turning to his nephew to look for the wound as he turned a light pink, there was no way in hell he was admitting his sister stabbed him in the ass. "Its fine, uncle. Nowhere important." He mumbled softly as she giggled to herself, only to stop quickly as she met her uncles disapproving glare. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How many times do I have to say this, it was a <em>Light stabbing</em>." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You bought a tsungi horn?" Zuko suddenly asked in bafflement, desperate to change the subject as he looked at his uncle.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"For music night on the ship." Iroh stated with a happy smile, already forgetting the subject as he stared at his purchases happily before cupping his chin as he began to walk around the market again, Honora humming to herself behind him with Zuko following reluctantly, scared that if the two went off alone again, they'd buy more useless crap. "Now if we only have some woodwinds."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, this place looks promising!" Iroh stated excited as he pointed to the ship as he hurried on board, Honora grimaced, jogging up so she was now in front of him as she took the place in for any sign of a threat, yeah, it did look promising, if that promise was they were going to <em>die here</em>. Iroh, unaware of his nieces unease set up quick to look around as Zuko came up behind her, seeing how tense she was and giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Calm down, Honora. No one is stupid enough to hurt us while you're with us y'know. Especially with that expression on your face." He comforted gently all the while Iroh swept from place to place looking at the strange objects in front of him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What expression?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The one that says '<em>talk to me and you'll die a slow and painful death</em>'." Honora grinned at him, patting his pale hand with her rough calloused one before letting them drop from her shoulder, both turning to look back at their uncle with small smiles on their faces. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, that is handsome!" Iroh exclaimed as he looked at the bejeweled monkey statue, Honora grimaced at it, just looking at the shiny thing was giving her a headache, beside her she had no doubt Zuko had a similar look on his scarred face. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pirate captain's lieutenant stood in front of the captain near the back of the ship, talking to each other in low tones as Honora's ears twitched against her head, listening to their conversation as she smiled falsely at her uncle talking about where to place his latest obsession, <em>there no way in hell</em> that monkey getting on her ship.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We lost the Water Tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko turned around when he heard the pirate, apparantly now finally taking the advice from his sister to listen and observe to those around him and stepped forward, face twisting in his effort to look threatening, "This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?"<br/>________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The dark waters below the ship sloshed gently against the side, Honora, arms resting gently against the railing, stared out at the land steadily moving along side it, her golden eyes searching for movement in the dark night. She had to admit, she was shocked blue-eyes had the balls to steal from pirates, shocked but weirdly proud of the little water-bender. Then again, Ursa always did say she was a bad influence.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Though she had to admit, working with said pirates was less than ideal.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I don't know why you're complaining my niece, didn't you always want to be a pirate when you were younger?" Iroh chuckled, amber eyes twinkling with mirth as he started at the tall girl standing next to him, finding amusement in her distain for the smelly men aboard their boat.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"When I was three, uncle. Things change." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora sighed before she glanced back over to where Zuko stood with the captain, talking to themselves quietly just like they had been doing since the sun went down low and narrowed her eyes with a snarl, unconsciously playing with the water-benders necklace that was still tied tight under her wrist guards. "I don't trust that man as far as I could throw him." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I don't know, Princess, I think you could throw his rather far, I've seen your muscles." Iroh said with a grin, reaching his hand up from out of his robes to rub his beard, his niece was suspiciously strong, he had once twisted his ankle hiking and she'd carried him for two hours back to the ship without breaking a sweat, it was as impressive as it was scary. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Then as far as Zuko could throw him."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Now that is probably more accurate." The two exchanged amused looks, before she looked back to the wood in front of them, knowing that this was going to end in a fight, whether it be with the pirates of the Avatar and his gang was the real question. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<b>Ow! Stupid scroll!</b>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora instantly perked up, golden eyes narrowed as she recognised the voice shouting out loud and imaginative curses that would make even the pirates aboard the ship blush from round the river bend. <em>Blue-eyes. </em><br/><em>______________________________________________</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>By the river, Katara was very quickly losing whatever patience she had left as she glared at the scroll in front of her. She wouldn't even <em>need </em>this stupid scroll if she had remembered to grab the ones the fiery princess had gifted her before she had escaped but <em><b>no</b></em>, why would she be that resourceful. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara groaned at her train of thought, having already lost to much sleep at the subject in question, <em>stop thinking about that stupid cocky Princess. </em>She blew air forcefully through her nose, closing her bright eyes before nodding, bringing up another stream of water, and muttering to herself quietly, "Okay Katara, relax and shift your weight through the stances." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Only for the water to break down against her feet, she grunted and slammed her fist against her forehead, feeling her eyes fill up in frustration before shaking her head, getting back into another stance. She wasn't going to stop until she got this move right, even if it was to just wipe the cocky smirk off the princess's stupid face. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>A loud groaning creak broke her concentration, the sound of metal scraping against sand and she slowly moved towards the dark green bushes, to take a quick suspicious glance at what was causing it, only to let out a quiet gasp at the sight of a small metal boat, already having an inkling on who it was. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara turned around and leapt up, long braid dancing behind her only to run straight into the arms of a large pirate, the shock of his unmoving body sending her crashing into the floor with a pained grunt. He heaved her up with a tight and bruising grip around her arm and she quickly spun in his grip, face twisting into a angry glare. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Let go of me!" She snapped, before unconsciously moving through the stances, the water following her and performing a perfect water whip, making her pretty features pull up into a proud grin before she was running again, not giving herself time to enjoy her victory as she crashed, once again, into a tall and slightly softer body. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Though this time, as Katara was about to fall backwards onto the cold unforgiving ground below her once more, an muscled arm wrapped around her small waist quickly, reflexes on point as per usual and brought her up into an familar armoured chest as the small girl clung to their broad shoulders, meeting smug golden eyes with her wide blue ones. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<b>Don't worry, </b><b>I'll</b><b> save you from the </b><b>pirates</b>." Honora purred with a sharp grin, while the water-bender in her arms resisted the urge to slap the look off her face. It really wasn't her night tonight.<br/>______________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara scowled, glaring up at the scarred prince as he stood in front of her, talking to the pirate captain she stole from and fought down the urge to spit at them like some rabid animal. A sharp tug against her wrists reminded her why it would probably be a bad idea as she was steadily tied to a small tree, Honora tying her hands together behind as per her brothers orders. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Careful, move around too much in these ropes and you're in for a <em>nasty</em> friction burn." The fire-bender warned, eyebrows furrowed as she finished tying the knot surprisingly gentle, before she walked around the tree to face the small girl being held captive. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em><b>Careful</b></em>." Katara mocked, lowering her voice and putting on a broody face in an attempt to impersonate her, badly, captivity having once again having made her as sassy as she wanted to be. "It almost sounds like you care." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora snapped her teeth together causing the blue-eyed girl to flinch before scowling, her golden eyes were shining with amusement as she took her place against a large boulder just to the side so she could see everyone and everything, her pale wrist feeling strangely bare now that it no longer had the water-benders necklace wrapped around it. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Tell me where he is and I won't hurt <em>you</em> or your <em>brother</em>." Zuko stated persuasively, coming in strong and hot, his impatience making itself known as he stared down at the girl, wondering why his sister hadn't already started threatening her, after all, Honora had always been better at this stuff. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Go jump in the river!" Katara snapped back angrily as she glared at him before looking away. Zuko looked towards his sister in bewilderment only to see her trying not to laugh, hiding it behind her pale hand so he could only see her shoulders shaking. He rolled his eyes, no help, his sister really was no help at all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He stood for a few moments, before a metaphorical lightbulb went off above his head, remembering his secret weapon that was inside his pocket. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Try to understand." He murmured softly, begining to approach the girl slowly, reminding Honora of  vultures that fly above dying animals, tauntingly but having all the time it the world, "I need to capture him to restore something I've lost, my honor." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko came around to her side, seemingly finally finished circling the girl like a creep, Honora idly wondered if blue-eyes was as freaked out as she was as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, holding something she couldn't make out in front of her neck. "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"My mother's necklace!" Katara exclaimed when she finally looked down, her pretty eyes mournful as she stared at it, as Zuko dangled it in front of her for a moment then practically danced back over to his soldiers with a smirk. "How did you get that?!" Katara demanded, straining slightly against the bonds around her. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering." Zuko taunted as he turned to face the captured girl, "<em>Tell me</em> where he is."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No!" Katara shouted defiantly, wanting the necklace desperately but wanting Aang and her brother safe more. Honora almost respected to tiny thing, almost. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pirate captain suddenly stepped forward, unaware of the fire-bending Princess standing sharply at his sudden move, eyes flickering for any sign of a threat to Zuko and fingertips sparking with white currents. "Enough of this necklace garbage! You promised a scroll!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I wonder how much this is worth…Honora?" Zuko said cockiness radiating from his being as he took the Waterbending scroll from behind his back and threw it over to Honora, who caught it with one hand and set her other alight with her white flame, holding the scroll over it and playfully bit the air at their fearful gasps. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Alot apparantly, Zu-zu." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She clenched her fist, evaporating the fire calmly before strolling over to her brother, hooking an arm around his shoulders and grinning sharply at the cautious pirates standing in front of them. "Tell you what, help my brother find what he wants, which by the way, is the boy hiding out in the woods, and I won't let my uncle use the scroll as toilet paper." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The captain took a step forward, eyes dark and stance threatening but Honora met him in the middle, eyes glassy and empty and looking more dead than alive, making the man take a step back quickly. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Take another step and I won't be held responsible for my actions." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her fingers began to spark with electricity, popping against the air loudly and making the pirates in front of her uneasy. The girl was obviously not someone to get on the wrong side of, with that thought in mind, the captain let out a low "<b>Fine</b>." Before stalking off, his crew in tow.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora yawned from where she was leaning against her boulder, Zuko having long since retired back to the ship to discuss who knows what with their uncle. The tall dark-haired girl offering to keep watch over the waterbending peasant who was glaring into the side of he head, seemingly hoping she'd combust.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, <em>I'm</em><em> sorry.</em> Am I too boring for you?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Is there any answer you <em>won't</em> get offended by blue-eyes?" She asked with a tired grin, shooting the girl an amused look that just seemed to make her even angrier than before. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What's your deal?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Excuse me?" Honora snapped, standing up from her relaxed position and walking over to the girl still tied to the tree, honestly, it was like the water-bender had no self preservation skills, or even a godsdamn survival instinct. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're saving me one minute, capturing me the next, then letting me go, then capturing me, <em>again</em>. Seriously, what is wrong with you?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Okay, Honora was woman enough to admit that she had a point. "I didn't...let you go." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, so it was a <em>mistake?</em>" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I don't make mistakes, blue-eyes." <em>Dammit pride. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>"Aha! </em>I knew it!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The Princess rolled her golden eyes, turning her back to the peasant and beginning to walk back over to the rock, not wanting to even entertain the girl's strange attempt at a conversation and instead looked at the sun rising steadily up at the sky, basking the world in its orange glow, filling the girl up with an energy that hadn't been there before. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Why did you do it? I'm not stupid enough to think you actually care about what happens to me, so why?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara asked, staring at the armoured back sitting in front of her, desperately wanting an answer to questions that kept her up at night. Was the Princess actually on their side? Was there a chance that Firebenders and firenation citizens wanted the war over just as much as they did? She could see kindness in the girls uncle, who had played his games with her and told her in the quiet of the night just what he though about his niece. 'I think, shes caught between who she is and who she wants to be.'</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora paused, glancing back towards to girls hopeful face before sighing in relief when she caught sight of one of their soldiers walking towards her, no doubt about to relieve her of her duty. She stood up, before pausing once and deciding that perhaps once, she could tell the truth.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<b><em>Maybe you aren't the only one who wants the fire-lord's reign to end.</em></b>" <br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Nice work." Zuko praised as he stood in front of where the pirates were gathered with the Avatar, (who was staring up at the group in front of him with sad puppy dog eyes) and the Water Tribe boy, (who was viciously biting at the ropes attacked to his wrists) that were tied up in front of them. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora kept her narrowed eyes on the pirates, standing just behind Zuko with her Sai's twirling dangerously between her fingers, watching the interaction carefully for any sign of aggravation. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aang, this is all <em>my </em>fault." Katara said sadly, shuffling her foot against the dusty floor and refusing to glance at the princess, still processing what was said a few hours prior as she looked at Aang. "No Katara, it isn't." Aang stated with a slight smile of reassurance, though all the evidence pointed to the fact it was very much her fault, not that Honora was going to say that. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah, It kind of is." Her uncle obviously had no such qualms as he shrugged at the water-benders dark glare. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko took a few steps towards the pirate captain, the Waterbending scroll in hand and Honora following right behind him, not taking her golden eyes away from the threat in front of him. "Give me the boy."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>You </em>give <em>us </em>the scroll." The pirate captain retorted without moving.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sokka looked up at the pirate captain in surprise, a plan forming in his head as he quickly realised the situation and felt the tension. Honora had to hand it to the boy, what he lack in skill, he made up for in brain. "You're really gonna hand over the <em>Avatar</em> for a stupid piece of parchment?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Don't listen to him," Zuko ordered, glaring at the Sokka heatedly, like his sister figuring out his plan but it was already too late, even he could see that. "He's trying to turn us against each other!" The pirate captain, shockingly, ignored Zuko and looked down at Aang with a questioning gaze for a few moments before looking up and addressed Sokka, "You're friend is the Avatar?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sure is," Sokka confirmed with a sly grin, "And I'll bet he'll fetch you a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!" Zuko snarled angrily as he pointed threateningly at the boy, Honora frowned at the side of his head, <em>that was </em><em><b>her</b></em><em> line</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth." Aang whispered at his friend nervously, not knowing the man and trying to figure out the lesser of two evils, his money was on the angry ponytail boy and his scary sister.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sokka shrugged his shoulders, "I'm just sayin' it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Keep the scroll," The pirate captain sneered at Zuko, turning his back and beginning to walk away with his crew following just behind,"We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko's eyes narrowed before he nodded to his sister with a sly smirk, "You'll regret breaking a deal with me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora twisted her body and with a strong kick, sent a large blast of burning white flame, most of the pirates had seen it coming and were lucky enough to be able to dodge the dangerous blast, still catching gouging burns to the skin, one wasn't as quick however and his charred body lay on the floor smoking in front of the Avatar and his friend, Sokka quickly covered the boys eyes while he gagged. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pirates charged forwards, meeting the soldiers in the middle as they each slammed down a smoke bomb, confusing the soldiers and letting the chaos of the fight consume them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora snarled, listening to the grunts of the men around her before recognising Zuko's quickly, flipping herself over a spear arming for her stomach and ramming her lightning-charged fingers into the side of the pirate's head, making him convulsive to the ground with foam leaking out of his mouth. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She twisted her body to the side once more as a sword was swung down next to her, wrapping her leg around his head and using her core strength to twist him down onto the floor. Forming a fire-dagger in her hand and slicing it quickly across his stomach, almost to the bone as she openly laughed in his face.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A sharp scream interrupted the girl from her murderous gaze, and she looked up sharply to see a pirate charging for Katara who was still tied to the tree, and without a moments thought or hesitation, she threw her sai with perfect aim and watched it lodge into his throat, bringing the man to his knees. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora walked forward, meeting the water-benders terrified gaze with her calm one and bent down next to the body, gripping her weapon and yanking it out before coming to a stop in front of the girl, her unfeeling eyes unsettling before lifting the weapon once more. </p>
</div><p>"Hey, blue-eyes, bye blue-eyes."</p><p>The sai slashed down and Katara let out a frightened scream as her life flashed before her eyes, very, very, <em>very</em> quickly. When she felt no pain, she opened her eyes to see the remains of the rope laying uselessly at her feet, she glanced up sharply with wide eyes, another question on her tongue but the fire-bender was already back in the fray, tackling a pirate.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Zuko stumbled out of the smoke cloud and hid the Waterbending scroll behind his back, glancing behind him and whirling around just in time to dodge the pirate captain's sword. The young prince scowled and took a Firebending stance while the captain prepared to attack with his sword. The two began to fight, Zuko sending out blasts of fire while the captain tried to slice him with his sword.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The banished prince growled when he felt the scroll get yanked away by the pirate with the rope only for the Avatar's lemur to snatch it out of the air.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko rolled his eyes, deciding that it was a problem for another time as he ducked under a sword, unaware of another pirate coming up behind him until he heard a familar loud pop as blue glowing lightening shot out from the fray, hitting the man in the chest and sprawling him across the ground, unmoving and lifeless. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He shot his sister a grateful look before his eyes went wide as an arrow with a long line of rope attached hit the back of her calf, sending her crashing to her knees and dragging her back into the cloud as she let out a sharp cry, her pale face twisting in pain before she vanished from sight. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Honora!" He shouted, about to run after her only to get tugged back by the captain, who scratched the side of his cheek at his distraction. Zuko turned his attention back to the threat, the mantra of <em>Honora will get back up, Honora always gets back up, </em>echoing inside his head. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Inside the cloud, The tall fire-bender rolled to the side, a grimace on her face as she punched a sloppy blast of fire toward the pirate, gritting her teeth and sucking in a breath when she noticed it looked more blue than white, meaning she was losing her energy and in a situation like this, it was a fatal thing. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora growled under her breath, putting her weight into her palms and swiping her legs out with her fire, catching the mans legs and making him fall screaming to the floor as his flesh burned away in chunks. She quickly stood up, limping over towards him with dark and emotionless eyes, face devoid of life. The fire-lord greatest and most destructive weapon, after all, this is all she was, a product of war and chaos. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Mercy</em>." The pirate begged, realising his mistake when he looked into those scorching eyes and holding the bloody stumps that were once his knees. "Mercy, <em>please</em>." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora paused.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"If you wanted mercy, you should of made a different ally." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Before her hand clenched into a fist and her white flame incinerated the man before he could even begin to scream, all that was left was the scorch mark on the ground and the taste of ash on her tongue. She rolled her shoulders, body now weaker and limped out of the cloud of dust, tripping over a rock and falling with a pain-filled cry. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Suddenly, a flash of silver obtained her vision, and she realised a second too late another pirate had followed her, his sword about to be brought down on her upon her skull in vengeance for his fallen friend, her eyes closed subconsciously, awaiting the sweet relief of death only to hear a yell, a smack and then a splash. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora opened her eyes to see the pirate laying on the floor, knocked out cold and Katata standing behind him, arms still in her stance and shaking breathlessly, her face flushed a dark pink as she stared down at the girl on the floor in front of her, before she seemingly realised what she just did and dropped her arms with a nervous smile. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey Honora, bye Honora." She called out shakily before running off after her brother and Aang, leaving the princess to stare after her in shock.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>What in agni's name just happened!?</em>
  </p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>"I'd strike the sun if it insulted me."</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div>
  <p><b>"</b><b>Stop</b><b> moving, Honora!" Iroh snapped, patience wearing thin as his niece struggled away from him weakly, half an arrow still sticking out of the meat of her calf. </b>She snarled at him as a warning, calm eyes a stormy gold as she moved away from him sluggishly, reminding the old man of some sort of rabid animal, the type that hisses and spits the moment you get too close. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Honora, he needs to clean it, stop being a brat." Zuko snapped from where he stood against the wall, arms crossed and eyes hiding the concern for his injured sister. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Brat</em>?! This wouldn't of happened if I wasn't looking after <em>your</em> ungrateful ass." She growled, flinching when her uncle yanked her back towards him by her uninjured leg. The arrow had come at her when she'd been distracted, too busy protecting Zuko to notice a threat at her own life. If he hadn't of been there she would of obliterated them, they all knew it and Iroh didn't know if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko was her weakness, he would always be her weakness. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And don't think I didn't see you rescuing the waterbending peasant! We're talking about that after uncle pulls the arrow out!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well then, guess its staying in!" She screamed back, the pain changing her from her usually calm exterior to a girl with wild eyes and burning veins, ash on her tongue and fire rippling beneath her skin, ready to erupt at a moments notice. Her fire made her strong, a burning godess of white flame, but it was all wrapped up inside fragile skin and weak bones, making her unstable and dangerous. </p>
</div><p>Honora reached down, having enough of the hesitation and wanting to rest, her pale and shaking fingers wrapping around the stick, ignoring her uncles and brothers frantic protests and yanking it out with a pain-filled howl, fire streaming out of her mouth and hitting the ceiling as Zuko flinched and took cover. He <em>hated</em> it when she did that.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Her golden eyes rolled up into the back of her head finally, the exhaustion she'd had from the sleepless nights of the last few days catching up to her as she slumped against the floor and into her brothers awaiting arms, who had lunged forward to catch her with a grunt. </p>
</div><p>Iroh used her stillness to his advantage, pulling out a roll of gauze from his sleeve and started to wrap it around her still bleeding wound after he cleaned it, guilt making his eyes blurry as he looked down at his unconscious niece.</p><p>"She's right, isn't she?"</p><p>Zuko's low voice broke the sudden stillness of the room as he shifted her weight in his arms slowly, moving her so she was laying on her bed and brushed her dark hair off of her sweaty forehead with a gentle touch and concern-filled eyes.</p><p>"Prince Zuko?"</p><p>"She got hurt because she was watching my back, and I couldn't do the same." He snapped, turning his back to his uncle, anger festering inside him like a disease as he remembered the pained look on his sisters face. He'd been to weak to protect her, he was meant to be the oldest, but it was Honora who looked after him, even at the cost of herself.</p><p>"Your sister just cares about you, nephew."</p><p>"That's the problem. I don't think she cares about herself."</p><p>Iroh sighed to himself, standing up after patting his nieces knee before walking over to Zuko and placing his warm hand on his turned shoulder. "Your father was not easy on Honora growing up, not that he was easier on any of you. He wanted a weapon that would do anything for him and only him, so he made one out of his daughter. But her loyalty has only ever laid with you, prince Zuko."</p><p>"I just- I don't want to see her get hurt anymore."</p><p>"At the end of the day, she will always do whatever it takes to protect you Zuko, <em>always</em>." <br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>"There is a storm coming." Iroh stated wisely after taking a deep breath of the sea air, his kind features twisting as he looked out in front of him, feeling a stirring in his belly that three years at sea had made him in-tune too. "A big one."</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"You're out of your mind, Uncle." Zuko commented drily as he closed his telescope and walked over to where his uncle was standing, looking out at same view and not seeing a single thing wrong with it, "The weather's perfect. There's not a cloud in sight."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"A storm is approaching from the north." Iroh said firmly as he turned to face his obstinate nephew, "I suggest we alter our course and head southwest."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We know the Avatar is traveling northward," Zuko retorted, his temper still winding thin due to Honora's absence, having still been asleep after the altercation with the pirates. He shook his head, pushing his concern aside and took a few steps forward, pointing north with a sneer on his face, <em>Honora would be fine. Honora is always fine. </em>"So we will do the same."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Iroh sighed, reaching up to rub his beard before he looked up at his nephew imploringly, "Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" Zuko snapped, then looked behind him just as Lieutenant Jee walked onto the deck and cocked an eyebrow at the prince with a frown on his face, obviously displeased at the lack of consideration for his life and feeling bold now that the Prince's scary sister was down for the count. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko's expression hardened and he stalked towards the older man, feeling as though he had something to prove. "Finding the Avatar is more important than any individual's safety."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>As the banished prince walked away, Jee glared after him, upper lip curling into a snarl. The firebending boy stormed into the command tower, slamming the door behind him and putting an end to the conversation. The Lieutenant's body still tense with rage, radiating from his pore. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"He doesn't mean that. He's just all worked up." Iroh said uncertainty, he really hoped Honora would wake up soon, she'd bring peace back to the ship, mainly because the crew were all terrified of her, but Iroh was starting to think it may of actually been a good thing.<br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora's golden eyes snapped open, body lurching forward as she was brought out of dreams of blue and red. She rubbed her eyes, trying to remember what the blue thing was but coming up empty, the dream disappearing like sand between her fingertips. </p>
</div><p>She sat up, rolling her shoulders to free them of tension, winching as her bones popped and cracked before trying to swing her lower half onto the floor. The key-word was trying as she let out a sharp yell as the sudden move pulled at the wound on her calf, she reached down and cupped it gently, gritting her teeth together before placing it onto the floor with a grunt.</p><p>She'd had worse. <em>Alot </em>worse.</p><p>The dark-haired girl stood slowly, limping towards her wardrobe and begining to get changed into loose clothes, to not aggravate her injury more, ignoring the scars that marred her body whenever she caught sight of them, no doubt the wound on her leg would be added to the collection.</p><p>Honora reached forward on her dresser, to grab the water-benders necklace to tie it safely around her wrist so it wouldn't get taken only to come up empty, she paused staring at the unoccupied space before remembering her brother taking it and frowning, rubbing her strangely bare wrist in thought. She was <em>getting</em> that necklace back.</p><p>Placing her gold wrist gauntlets on instead, mainly to ignore the now empty space she began to walk out into the hallway, smirking when the crew members seen her and paled, looking as though they had seen a ghost and practically leaping out of her way, the ship filling with unease and tension at the sight of the dangerous princess.</p><p>Oh, it was good to be back.</p><p>Honora walked out on deck, still somewhat concealed in the shadows and wrinkled her straight nose (the only straight part on her body) at the sight of the greying skies in front of the stormy sea. It looked like a storm was coming, and from their position, they were spat dab in the middle of it. Really? She goes to sleep for a moment and the gods descend.</p><p>"Huh, looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all." Lieutenant Jee taunted as he crossed his arms and looked at the banished prince, their backs turned to Honora who narrowed her eyes at them, leaning back into the shadows to see what was happening and why she could practically taste the tension in the air.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Lucky guess." Iroh said pleasantly, his hands raised slightly as he walked closer to the lieutenant, trying his hardest to keep the peace, knowing his nephews temper was reaching boiling point, he wasn't used to being challenged by anyone other than his sister, that much was obvious. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Lieutenant! You'd better learn some respect," Zuko barked, taking a page out of his sisters book as he marched towards Jee and jabbed him in the chest with two fingers, Honora grinned watching him, <em>yeah, that was her hothead of a big brother.</em> "Or I'll teach it to you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What do <em>you </em>know about respect?" Lieutenant Jee demanded harshly as he glared at the prince's back, not noticing the way Iroh was making a silencing motion with his hand or the dangerous princess glaring daggers into the side of his head, this conversation was going from amusing to aggravating very quickly. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The way you talk to everyone around, from your freak of a sister, to hard-working crew to your esteemed uncle, shows you know nothing about respect!"</p>
</div><p>Zuko's upper lip curled as the word 'freak' left the mans lips. But stubbornly kept his back to him, taking deep calming breaths and trying not to act how he felt. Iroh slapped his hand to his forehead exasperated, where was Honora when you need her? He thought to himself in despair, unaware the girl was hiding in the shadows with sparking fingertips.</p><p>"You don't care about anyone but yourself!" Jee ranted angrily then sneered, "Then again what should I expect from a <em>spoiled prince</em>."</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Zuko whirled around, his dark brows furrowed and eyes as dark as the grey clouds rapidly moving overhead, his temper getting the best of him as his right arm extended in a Firebending position and Lieutenant Jee was quick to the same.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Easy now." Iroh said soothingly and moved to stand beside the two when Zuko and Jee wrist blocked the other's arm, smoke began to rise from the prince's hand, his anger making his skin burn hot, another trait he leaned from Honora.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're sister isn't here to save you now, prince Zuko." Jee snarled, confidence running high as he glared down at the boy in front of him, Iroh bit his nails nervously, getting prepared to step in until a voice cut through the tension like a knife.</p>
  <p>"<b>Now, whatever gave you </b><b><em>that</em></b><b> idea.</b>"</p>
</div><p>The crew flinched, and Jee and Zuko sprung apart quickly as the Princess walked out of the shadows with a swagger in her steps, unknown to the crew it was just her poorly hidden limp and her pale fingers sparking threateningly with blue currents of electricity. Looking half a corpse and half a god as she stared each member of the crew down with her unnatural golden eyes before they finally landed on Jee.</p><p>"Is there a problem here, lieutenant?"</p><p>Honora asked dully, face as cold as the sea below then and eyes devoid of life as she stared at him, awaiting a responce. Jee gulped, not able to help it as he stared at the fire-bender, who was as tall, if not taller than he was and far more terrifying, before he decided his life was more important than his pride.</p><p>"No, your highness. No problem at all." He mumbled, eyes downcast before begining to walk away, his fellow crew members already having long since disappeared ever since she had walked on deck. He walked past her, resisting the urge to shrink in on himself only to flinch as her warm hand clasped itself on his shoulder as she leaned down to whisper in his ear, her tone dark and gravelly.</p><p>"Talk to my brother like that again, and your journey will end with your body at the bottom of the <em>ocean</em>."</p><p>"Is that a threat, Princess?"</p><p>"<b>Yes</b>." Honora finally smiled, but it didn't reach her golden eyes, filling the lieutenant with dread as he paled, she patted his shoulder with a friendly wink and released him, watching him scurry off with cruel indifference, adding onto to her mental list to keep an eye on the man.</p><p>"You're supposed to be resting." Her uncle called out, bringing her attention back over to her boys as he smiled up at her, thinly veiled relief shining in his bright eyes. She risked a glance at her brother, only to see him standing to the side, arms crossed, pale fists clenched and stubbornly avoiding looking at her, she rolled her eyes before shrugging her shoulders.</p><p>"I'm supposed to be alot of things uncle, but I live to disappoint."</p><p>"I don't need your help keeping order on <em>my</em> ship." Zuko finally snarled, as his sister sighed, crossing her arms and jutting her hip to the side with an amused raise of her eyebrow, the silent treatment obviously hadn't lasted very long, her little Zu-zu was always so predictable.</p><p>"What? No hello Honora? Glad to see you're awake Honora? Thanks for saving my ass <em>again</em> Honora?"</p><p>"I don't need you to save me!"</p><p>"I beg to differ." She said calmly, eyes flickering as she took in his aggressive stance.</p><p>He openly snarled like an animal, glaring at her darkly. Iroh pulled a face, moving to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder only for him to shrug it away violently, storming off and about to leave his family on deck, until his sister called out to him once more, her words freezing him in his tracks.</p><p>"Y'know, one day I'm not going to be around to clean up after you Zu-zu. I hope when that day comes, you're <b>ready</b>."</p><p>Iroh looked up at her sharply, alarm in his eyes but she just stared nonchalantly at her brothers frozen form, before she then walked over to her uncle, and wrapped a reassuring arm around his shoulders and squeezed slightly, more to keep her upright than comfort him in all honesty.</p><p>"Come on uncle, why don't you make me some tea? I'm parched." <br/>_________________________________________________</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"I'm sick of taking his orders! I'm tired of chasing his Avatar! And I'm tired of that Princess threatening our very lives if we so much as look at him wrong." Lieutenant Jee ranted angrily as he and a couple of the other crewmen had a drink around a small barrel-fire in the boiler room of the ship, safely tucked away from the potential wrath of the dangerous fire-bender. "I mean, who do they think they are?!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Do you really want to know?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The men stood and Jee looked at the stairs that lead down into the boiler room, for a moment fearing the Princess had been hiding in the shadows, ready to take her revenge but being filled with short-lived relief at the sight of her uncle, with no Honora in sight. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"General Iroh. We were just-" Jee started but Iroh cut him off with a raised hand as he stepped into the light of the fire, with the shadows dancing across his face and making his amber eyes shine golden, just like his nieces. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's okay." Iroh stated quietly then gestured to the barrel-fire, mentally thanking whatever god that made Honora to fall asleep after her tea, allowing him to wander the halls until this conversation had danced into his ears. "May I join you?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Of course, sir." Jee agreed instantly and Iroh walked down the stairs, taking a seat on of the wooden barrels the men had been using at chairs, groaning as his old bones creaked before sighing, stretching his legs out in front of him calmly. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Please, try to understand. My nephew and my niece are complicated young people." Iroh finally spoke after a moment of contemplation, "They have both been through much, is such different ways..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>A younger Zuko, small but confident, walked through the halls of the Fire Nation Palace, taking in the red and golden decorations that bathed </em>
    <em>the</em>
    <em> palace in a certain ethereal beauty. He </em>
    <em>strolled</em>
    <em> towards his father's war room, following the other generals, only to be stopped by the guards at the currents.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Let me in!" Zuko demanded just as Iroh stepped forward and touched his shoulders</em><em>, his weathered face turned downwards in concern. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Prince Zuko, what's wrong?"</em><em> He asked gently, trying to keep the peace as he usually did, pulling him away gently so he was </em><em>no</em><em> longer in the guards face or personal space. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>I want to go into the war chamber but the guard won't let me pass!" Zuko explained, trying to keep the whine out of his voice</em><em>, and ignoring the way his voice cracked uncomfortably. Shooting one last glare at the man before allowing himself </em><em>to</em><em> be lead away. </em>"<em>You're not missing anything, trust me." Iroh joked as he lead his young nephew away from the curtain, "Those meeting are dreadfully boring."</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>But Honora is already in there! She's always in there." He snapped, resisting the urge to </em><em>stomp</em><em> him foot into the ground at the thought of his </em><b><em>younger</em></b><em> sister being allowed into the war rooms. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Wait." The Lieutenant interrupted, voice quiet but eyes wide as he stared at the general who was brought out of his memory quickly, looking up from the fire to meet Jee's dark brown eyes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The princess was already <em>in </em>the meetings?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Since her fire turned white." Iroh murmured, nodding solemnly and rubbing his beard in pained thought, he'd tried to convince his brother many a time that the war room was so place for someone as young as Honora, but he had never listened, always replied that Honora was expected to fight in those battles soom, so she should know what to do when the time came. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"She was just a child." Another soldier called out, thinking about his baby girl at home, and trying to picture her in that sort of situation filled him with a dread that made his heart beat faster.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No. <b>My </b><b>niece</b><b> never was</b>." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>If I'm going to rule this nation one day, don't you think I need to start learning as much as I can?" Zuko continued, reasoning with his uncle carefully as he remembered Honora's advice on how to get what he wants when talking to his elders, he then smiled innocently up at his uncle, hoping the man would take the bait.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Iroh pursed his lips slightly then nodded in consent, "Very well, but you must promise not to speak. These old folks are a bit sensitive, you know?"</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Thank you, Uncle." Zuko said excitedly as he bowed, Iroh chuckled, wrapping his arm across the boys shoulders and lead him into the war chamber, his nephew </em><em>continuing</em><em> to smile up at him, eyes soft with obvious affection.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>They had been seated quickly, a few of the generals raising a brow at Zuko's </em>
    <em>appearance</em>
    <em> but </em>
    <em>keeping</em>
    <em> their </em>
    <em>comments</em>
    <em> to themselves as they walked it. Honora sighed at the sight of her elder brother, before pointing to the seat at her left with a cold glare. He sat next to her clumsily, shooting her a smug grin at having been let in but she didn't even blink back at the boy, causing him to huff in frustration. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"</em>
    <em>The Earth Kingdom defenses are concentrated here." General Bujing stated as he pointed to a place on the large map. "A dangerous battalion of their strongest Earthbenders and fiercest warriors. So I am recommending the forty-first division.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Honora narrowed her lifeless eyes but made no comment, body still while beside her Zuko fidgeted, not used to having to be sitting still for so long but refusing to complain.</em>
  </p>
</div><p>"<em>But the forty-first division is entirely new recruits." An older general stated, gesturing with his hand in a confused manner, before letting it drop against his knee carefully. "How do you expect them to defeat a powerful Earth Kingdom battalion?</em>"</p><p>"<b><em>He doesn't." </em></b><em>Honora called out dully, voice and face devoid of any emotion as she looked up at the general with dark eyes. He swallowed harshly, willing himself to continue looking into her </em><em>unnatural</em><em> eyes but failing to, looking back at the plans in front of him, feeling his skin crawl as he stared at her. </em></p><p>
  <em>Hidden through the flames of his throne, Fire-Lord Ozai smirked at the fear she installed in people. </em>
</p><p>"<em>He wishes for them</em><em> be used as a distraction while we mount an attack from the rear, a smart strategy. What better to use as bait than fresh meat after all, General? </em><em><b>But</b></em><em> are you </em><em>willing</em><em> to lose your men's support from the gamble? After all, their massacre will be on your orders.</em>"</p><p>
  <em>Honora said simply, voice lifeless as she glanced up at the flames. The General opened and closed his mouth, trying to form words as he </em>
  <em>decided</em>
  <em> what to say next, to save himself the embarrassment of being told, in calculated sweetness, that his plan was in shambles. Iroh sighed in relief, knowing her wording had put a stop in the plans, in the possible massacre, but, unfortunately for him, </em>
  <b>
    <em>his </em>
  </b>
  <b>
    <em>nephew</em>
  </b>
  <b>
    <em> hadn't</em>
  </b>
  <em>. </em>
</p><p>"<em>You can't sacrifice an entire division like that!" Zuko shouted in protest as he jumped to his feet, oblivious to the stricken look on his uncle's face, or his sisters panicked eyes. "Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?</em>"</p><p>"Zuko was right, you see, but it was not his place to speak out. He hadn't realised Honora had already stopped that plan by putting the clogs in motion. She knew the right things to say and when to say then, Zuko assumed he had the same right." Iroh stated gravely as he stroked his beard again, looking off to the side, "And there were dire consequences to his actions..."</p><p>"After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him." Iroh said softly as he looked at the flames dancing around in the barrel in front of him, his rage suddenly turning his face as he remembered what happened next. "He said the challenge against the general was an act of complete disrespect! And there was only one way to resolve this."</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Agni Kai." Jee muttered, eyes downcast before looking back up at Iroh in pity. "A fire duel."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That's right." Iroh nodded in agreement, his eyes foggy as he remembered the incident which lead him here. "Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid, Honora told him to reconsider, told him to let <b>her</b> fight in <b>his</b> place but he had scoffed at her, thinking she thought him weak and refused. But Zuko misunderstood." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, Honora had known what it meant, and had tried to taken his place but how was he to know what she was really protecting him from? "When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see it was not the general."</p>
</div><p>Iroh paused and closed his eyes to hide his unurshed tears, before starting to speak again, each of the crew members ignoring his wobbly voice. "Zuko had spoken out against the general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he disrespected. Zuko would have to duel his own <b>father</b>."<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>"When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy." Iroh continued speaking, his hand coming to rest on his knee as the members of the crew looked up at him, each on the edge of their seat at the distressing story. Wondering what happened next, but each having a sinking feeling that they knew.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>
    <em>"Please, Father!" Zuko begged, his amber eyes filling with tears due to his </em>
    <em>panic</em>
    <em>. Unfortunately, his first mistake Honora thought, watching through the stands with dark eyes, her fingers unknowingly </em>
    <em>sparking</em>
    <em> with blue currents. Their father doesn't like weakness. And will never ignore an opportunity to snuff it out.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"I only had the Fire Nation's best interests at heart. I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>The Fire Lord stalked towards his son slowly, looking </em>
    <em>very</em>
    <em> much like a hunter going in for the kill, sparing a glance into the stands and catching the dark gaze of his middle child as she glared at him, he resisted the urge to smirk.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>You will fight for your honor." He growled out to the boy, only for Zuko got on his hands and knees with his head bowed, trying to appeal to his father that he loved and adored.</em> "<em>I meant you no disrespect." Zuko </em><em>whispered</em><em>, voice breaking as he pleaded for his father to understand, "I am your loyal son!"</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!" the Fire Lord ordered, now looming over the boys kneeling form</em><em>, </em><em>upper</em><em> lip curling at his coward of a son. He was a weakness, not just the the firenation family, but also for his weapon, and he would have to snuff it out before it festered like the disease he was. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>I won't fight you."</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>You will learn respect," The Fire Lord's voice rumbled through the arena, filling the room with tension and anticipation as they watched the drama unfold. "And suffering will be your teacher!"</em> <em>Zuko looked up at his father, tears streaming down his face as his father pulled his fist back and....'</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I looked away." Iroh stated, his eyes closed as he looked away the same way he had in his memory, the sound of his nephew's pained scream ringing in his ears, as well as the roaring of the crowd before he opened then once more. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I always thought that Prince Zuko was in a training accident." Lieutenant Jee stated quietly, looking at Iroh in shock, deciding to keep it to himself that he thought it was his sister that had done it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It was no accident." Iroh practically growled then his voice became calm again as he opened his eyes and looked at the men, "After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment, he was banished and sent to capture the Avatar. Only then could he return with his honor."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So that's why he's so obsessed." Jee muttered in understanding, his heart feeling heavy for the prince's burden. "Capturing the Avatar is the only chance he has of things returning to normal."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is the Avatar gives Zuko hope." Iroh said with a shaky smile, looking to each crew member gently, until the silence was interrupted once more. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"But how did you get the Princess to come with you? In all respects, it seemed as though she was the fire-lord's most prized possession."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Iroh sighed, feeling as though he'd been doing that alot recently before meeting the crew mates eyes. "When I looked away, it was into the face of Honora who, unlike myself, hadn't taken her eyes away from the fight. And I was so shocked to see the emotion there, from the usually devoid girl. Devastation and hate had twisted her features into an unrecognisable creature. I believe that <b>w</b><b>hatever love Honora had for her father, burned away as Zuko did."</b> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"For the first time in my life, I feared my niece, feared what she would do when she got her hands on my brother, she never told me what happened between them when she went to see him after Zuko had been hospitalized, but <em>something had changed</em>."</p>
</div><p>"My brother looked fearful, not proud whenever he looked at the girl, which is why I begged her to come with me, I know my brother, that fear would turn into Honora's own demise." He left it at that, but his mind couldn't help but conjure up another memory, one that he would never breath a word to, except himself.</p><p><em>"Honora. Please, reconsider! Staying here will only be your death sentence." Iroh begged, watching as the girl stalked </em><em>across</em> <em>the</em><em> room, backwards and </em><em>forwards</em><em>, looking like a caged </em><em>tiger</em><em> as she snarled, occasionally looking over at her brothers prone form before snarling again. It was the most emotion Iroh had ever seen from the </em><em>girl</em><em>.</em></p><p>
  <em>He should be </em>
  <em>awake</em>
  <em>, she would constantly </em>
  <em>mumble</em>
  <em>, more to herself then to her uncle at his bedside, her golden eyes </em>
  <em>dark</em>
  <em>. He should be </em>
  <em>awake</em>
  <em> now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Whatever my father has planned for me, </em>
  <em>I</em>
  <em> can take it." She snapped back, continuing to move around the room, her wrist gauntlets that she had once called 'useless' and 'humiliating' strangely now worn around her slim wrists. When Iroh had questioned her new fashion choice, she had given him a deadly glare and he </em>
  <em>decided</em>
  <em> it wasn't worth it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was only years later he would find out it was to hide vicious hand-shaped burns locked tight around her fragile skin.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"He could kill you!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"That'd be rather ambitious of him." </em>
  <em>Honora snapped her jaw shut, enjoying the ominous sharp crack of teeth smacking against teeth. She </em>
  <em>
    <b>wanted</b>
  </em>
  <em> Ozai to send someone after her, she'd be filled with satisfaction sending her 'father' the </em>
  <em>assassins</em>
  <em> head. In fact, nothing would give her more pleasure then to see the look on that monsters face. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Why are you fighting me on this? Why are you so adamant on staying?" He had pleaded, begging the young girl to see sense. To leave before she became an even bigger shell then the one standing in front of </em>
  <em>him</em>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You know why, uncle. Don't play yourself for a fool." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Iroh's jaw clamped shut as he took in the girls dark words, standing up quickly and, after checking that no one was hanging around in the halls outside, shut the door behind him. Spinning round to face his niece with wide eyes, "...Honora, please tell me you wouldn't be that foolish." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Foolish? Hm, no I don't think so."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"What you're talking about is </em>
  <em>
    <b>treason</b>
  </em>
  <em>." He hissed quietly, panic rising in his chest as he thought about the consequences. He had no doubt that his niece would go through with it, and that is what worried him. Honora was dangerous, the whole of the nation knew that, which is why it would so easily be pointed back to </em>
  <em>her</em>
  <em>, no matter how careful she was about it.</em>
</p><p><em>"You think </em><em>I</em> <em>care</em><em>? Ozai will be dead and my siblings free to live their lives without his looming presence." </em></p><p><em>"You'd be executed."</em> <em>He tried once more, his dark amber eyes narrowed in </em><em>concern</em><em>, begging her to see what the consequences of her actions would be, but she only shrugged in return.</em></p><p>
  <em>"</em>
  <em>
    <b>So</b>
  </em>
  <em>?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Iroh froze, feeling his blood run cold as he stared at his young niece, younger than Zuko, younger than most and so ready to die. Ozai had trained the girl well, made her into the perfect weapon </em>
  <em>that</em>
  <em> was ready to spark and burn and die at a moments notice, but something told Iroh that his </em>
  <em>brother</em>
  <em> had never thought about her cold demeanor being </em>
  <em>turned</em>
  <em> against him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Honora..." </em>
  <em>A weak voice called out and their attentions snapped over to Zuko, argument ceasing against their tongues as they took him in, lying against the bed, a bandage over his eyes and holding his arm out to where he heard his sisters voice coming from. His face twisting in panic, "why can't </em>
  <em>I</em>
  <em> see anything?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Iroh walked towards him but Honora got there first, leaning against the bed to take his soft hand in her rough </em>
  <em>calloused</em>
  <em> one gently. Her other hand reaching up to pull his away from the bandages protecting his eyes. "Easy there Zu-zu, </em>
  <em>I'm</em>
  <em> right here." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Don't call me that." He snapped without any venom, intertwing their fingers and shocked that she allowed it. They had become closer ever since mom left, but she was still iffy when it came to idle affection, apparantly all it took was being horrifically wounded to gain her attention, both unaware Iroh was watching the two with gentle eyes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Am I- am I blind?" Zuko whispered, feeling as though there was a frog lodged into his throat as he choked the words out, knowing Honora wouldn't lie to him, that she wouldn't sugar coat the truth to shield him like everyone else did. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Of course not, you drama </em>
  <em>queen</em>
  <em>. Honestly Zu-zu, you always assume the worst don't you?" She teased with watery eyes as she looked at her </em>
  <em>brother</em>
  <em>. She should of been the one to fight in the Agni Kai, she would of killed Ozai so her family and herself would of been free a tyrant. She had went to his throne room with that exact order, only for it to be denied. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Honora!" Iroh snapped, worried about his nephews mental state, but Zuko had let out a weak chuckle at his sisters words. </em>
  <em>Squeezing</em>
  <em> her hand softly and smiling as </em>
  <em>she</em>
  <em> did the same </em>
  <em>back</em>
  <em> to him. The Princess watched as her brother frowned suddenly, body shivering from the cold gust of wind that had come from the open window, standing up to close it only to have Zuko whimper, </em>
  <em>tightening</em>
  <em> his grip.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Please don't leave me."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She hesitated for a moment, looking at her weak brother as he lay there pathetically and felt a surge of something curl into her chest. She couldn't abandon him, Honora looked over to her uncle with a sigh and gave him an single, sturdy nod, ignoring the man's brightening eyes before she looked back down at her brother with a gentle smile he couldn't see.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Never." She promised.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>_________________________________________________</em>
</p><p>Lightning suddenly clashed against the command tower, striking the metal with a mighty bang and waking Homora up from her nap, her body shooting up as she stumbled out of the door, forgetting to clasp on her wrist guards and knocking shoulders with crew members as they all ran to be on deck, looking for the damages.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Where were we hit?" Zuko demanded, following just behind her as he rushed onto the top deck, almost slipping but getting caught by his sisters sturdy grip on his arm as she looked around, the smell of smoke and burning metal invading her nostrils making her wince. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I don't know!" Lieutenant Jee cried out as he tried to keep his footing, stumbling only to have the princess grab onto the back of his armour and yank him upright without sparing him a glance, while he looked at her in gratitude. Suddenly, her eyes caught something, moving abroad the smoking tower.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Zuko! The helmsman!" She screamed through the pouring rain, bringing everyones attention to the ruined observation deck, crying pathetically in the storming sky. Zuko ran forward, Honora trying to follow after him only to cry out in pain as her forgotten injury showed its protest by send a sharp pain up her leg. She tried to limp, knowing deep down it would be impossible for her to climb the ladder, only to have the Lieutenant place a strong hand on her shoulder. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'll go after him, Princess. I'll keep him safe." He swore, looking into the girls golden eyes. Her upper lip curled in distaste before she nodded, patting his hand and letting him run past her, following her brother up the steps before she snarled, glaring up at the sky, waiting for the lightening that was no doubt about to strike, her fingers sparking with currents. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Suddenly, she heard a scream, and watched with wide eyes as another member of the crew lost his footing, sending him crashing against the railing and toppling overboard, and Honora didn't hesitate to lunge after him, vaulting over with a pain filled grimace and catching his wrist, holding both of their weight with one arm as she clung to the railing. The fire-bender began to sway, building up momentum and with a deep growl, she threw him onto the deck, pulling herself up soon after.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Get below ground!" She screamed at the shaking man, who nodded quickly, thankyous spilling from his trembling lips as he ran away but she didn't spare him a glance, only able to watch in horror as lightening rushed down from the heavens, heading straight for Iroh.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"UNCLE!" She yelled, eyes wide with panic as she moved, body feeling clumsy and sluggish as she tried to run, through her eyes, time moving in slow motion as Iroh faced the lightning head on, his eyes determined and in a twist of fate, catching the dangerous natural disaster and re-directing it into the sea below. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He blinked, astonished it had worked only for his vision to be obscured by long black hair as his niece gathered him into her arms, her breath ragged as she held him tightly. "Don't ever do that again." She begged in his ear as he chuckled, wrapping a thick arm around her waist and closing his eyes, enjoying the rare affection.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The Avatar!" Zuko shouted in surprise, bringing the two out of their movement as they all caught sight of the familiar flying bison soaring through the storm. "What do you want to do, sir?" Lieutenant Jee asked, his back straight as he awaited the prince's orders, showing his changed attitude towards the prince and princess of the firenation.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko hesitated a moment then looked over at the lieutenant, "Let him go. We need to get his ship to safety."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm." Iroh stated sagely, before shooting his nephew a proud look, his arm still wrapped around his nieces waist to help her keep her balance, knowing that the excitement had only aggravated her wound more. <br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>The ship had made it, the waters calmer and the rain not as heavy as the crew began to weigh their losses of belongings lost. Zuko stared out into the sea, looking for any sign of the Avatar before pausing as he felt his uncle come up to stand behind him.</p><p>"Uncle, I'm sorry." He said gently, shame curling inside him at the cruel way he wrote off his uncles concerns. Iroh chuckled, laying a gentle hand on the boys shoulder and smiling when it wasn't shrugged off.</p><p>"Your apology is accepted." His uncle grinned softly, before looking over at the side of the ship, where Honora leaned against the railing, staring up at the sky with narrowed eyes, as if awaiting a second attack, he looked back to his nephew, his eyes more serious than before. "But, perhaps I'm not the only one who deserves an apology."</p><p>Zuko sighed but nodded, watching as his uncle walked away before rolling his shoulders and marching off towards his sister, who raised an eyebrow at his approach. "I'm sorry." He spat out before wincing, he hadn't meant for that to come out as aggressive as it had. However, in his defence, the two didn't apologise often.</p><p>"Want to tell me what that was about, hothead?" She asked, surprisingly gentle as he took her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, helping her limp back into the hall of the command tower, back to where it was dry and safer for her to stand.</p><p>"I just-" Zuko cut himself off with a sigh, knowing whatever he said, it was going to sound grossly affectionate. He only hoped that she wouldn't tease him about it to harshly. "I don't like seeing you hurt. It reminds me that you're human, not this unstoppable force of nature and I never really know how to handle it."</p><p>"You don't. I'm not leaving you anytime soon, brother mine. So stop worrying, honestly you always assume the worst." Honora teased with a gentle grin before tightening her grip around his shoulder, her attempt at a one-armed hug. Zuko smiled softly, before leaning his head against the crook of her neck and staying there for a few moments, both enjoying the peace before begining to move once again.</p><p>The Avatar could wait another day, right now, all Zuko wanted to do was sleep. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div>
  <p><b>Honora fiddled with the blue necklace tied around her wrist gently, watching as her uncle made the tea,</b> <b>humming</b><b> a song under his breath with a relaxed smile upon his face, no doubt enjoying the family bonding he had forced the siblings to </b><b>endure</b><b>. </b>To the side of her, Zuko sat with his arms crossed, lips pouted and eyebrow twitching as he tried to remain patient, especially when all he really wanted to do was train. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aahh!" Iroh murmured, taking a sip of his own to make sure it was just right before pouring his niece and nephew a cup, catching Honora's amused eye with his own and shooting her a quick wink. "See Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental well-being. " </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko picked up the small cup, face still twisted into a grumpy frown and took a sniff, shooting Honora a suspicious glance, not trusting the girl to not slip fire-flakes into his drink, like she had many times before. She smirked at him, no doubt guessing his train of thought and took a gulp of her own to assure him it wasn't poisoned. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Just as he was about to take a sip, the ship suddenly jerked violently, causing the tea to slosh out of the cup and all over Zuko's face and hair. Honora blinked owlishly at him with her mouth hanging open in shock, but only for a moment before she started laughing manically, the sound cracking through the air like lightning in a storm as Zuko let out a sharp yell as his eyes began to burn.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I <em>knew </em>you put fire-flakes in the tea!" He screamed, aggressively rubbing his eyes as Honora slumped forward, shoulders shaking as she giggled at him. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well good for you, Zu-zu." She snorted, reaching under the table just as Iroh did and performing a complicated handshake only the two knew, smiling at each other from across the table. He growled in frustration, pushing his sopping wet ponytail from out of his face and storming towards the deck, his uncle and sister trailing behind him, still chuckling under their breaths and behind their hands before Honora's eyes grew cold as the crews screams reached her ears.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A large creature crawled from over the ship as they reached the disturbance, flickering its tongue at anyone that came near it and snarling. The men ran back, their fire-benders taking their place and getting into their stances, readying themselves for the Princess's orders. "Get back!" the woman, sitting abroad it barked at the crew as she directed the monster, "We're after a stowaway."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko stepped forward with a glare, Honora just behind him with her eyes dark and body tense. "There are no stowaways on my ship."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The creature seemed to think otherwise as it tore a chunk of the metal deck flooring right off then hurled it in Zuko direction. Without even blinking, Honora grabbed her brothers arm and yanked him down, twisting her body at the same time, her white fire rising and kicked the metal to the side, two halves hitting opposite sides of the deck as she scowled, her fingers begining to spark.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She watched as the beast stuck its head in the hole it made, sniffing loudly before it raised its large head and screeched as a strange little man crawled out and ran for it, panicked screams leaving his mouth. But it was all for naught as the brown creature struck the stowaway twice in the neck with an elongated tongue and he fell to the floor, twitching but unable to move. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"He's paralyzed." Zuko muttered in shock.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Way to state the obvious, Zu-zu." Honora snapped back before her attention was quickly brought over to the woman leaping off of the beast and onto the deck, walking towards the man with a sway in her step and dark eyes on the tall princess standing in front of him, smirking at her narrowed golden eyes. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Only temporarily." The woman stated, bold lips curling to a smile as she hauled the paralyzed man up onto her shoulder easily, Honora's already tensed jaw twitched at the nonchalant show of strength before looking off to the side and stubbornly avoiding the dark woman's gaze.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The toxins will wear off in about an hour. But by then, he'll be in jail and <em>I'll</em> have my money." <br/>The woman smirked then walked back over to the creature and without so much as a grunt, tossed him onto the back then prepared to remount, foot sliding through the saddle with practiced ease. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko demanded, stepping forward and causing the woman to pause, looking over her shoulder at the boy, before sliding her gaze back to the princess who was still staring hauntingly out at the sea in front of her, ignoring the way her pale cheeks were turning pink. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away." She stated smugly, obviously proud of her strange creature, then finished pulling herself back onto the shirshu's back. "Well, I'm impressed." Iroh stated as he and Zuko watched the woman crack her whip and the shirshu bolted off the ship, racing down the docks and allowing Honora to finally tear her gaze away to follow their gaze too. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Very </em>impressed." Iroh said with a smirk as he stroked his beard thoughtfully and Zuko gave him a disgusted look. He glanced at his sister, knowing he'd see the same grossed out look before doing a double-take at her flushed state, eyebrows, well...<em>eyebrow</em> raising in confusion.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Honora, are you <em>blushing</em>?" He asked bewildered at his usual stoic sister, who didn't even look half as intimidating as she usually did. All around them, the crewmen and the soldiers stopped at stared at the strange anomaly, not believing their eyes. All thinking the same thing, that the princess had never looked so young.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>No. </em><em>It's just</em><em> hot out." </em>She hissed, the attention to her moment of weakness making her anxious. "And if you all don't stop staring at me, I'll have you all <b>burned</b> alive." <br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Honora sighed slowly, back arching as she sat cross-legged on the cold floor of her bedroom with her shaking hands resting against her knees, the candles standing at attention next to her, bathing her room in their warm glow, flickered softly, turning from orange to blue to <em>white, </em>before repeating the process all over again.</p><p>Usually, she'd be sitting with Zu, trusting the animals presence would calm her down but she had decided against it after her display of weakness upon the deck. She was the Princess of the firenation, the monster most would tell stories about, not some <em>silly girl</em> who got flustered from just the slightest amount of attention.</p><p>Her golden eyes opened, flickering like the candles beside her before she glanced out of the window, only to see darkness staring back at her. She stood up, rolling her shoulders and rubbing the back of her neck to ease the sudden ache, grunting softly then clenching her fist, extinguishing the flames and strolling out of her room and heading for her uncles, knowing the man had desired a nap, asking to be woken when they headed out to look for the woman and her shirshu.</p><p>She walked through the halls, before pausing just outside her uncle's room, raising a brow in confusion. Zuko was already standing outside, looking in with an anxious frown on his face.</p><p>"What <em>are</em> you doing?" Honora called out, smirking as he jumped and twirled back around, shooting the taller girl a glare for the scare. "Something is wrong with uncle."</p><p>"What?" She hissed, jogging swiftly until she was at his side, pushing him so she could see into the door only to see Iroh asleep on his bed, front facing forward and hands crossed neatly over his large stomach. Honora quirked an eyebrow, waiting to see what was wrong but nothing looked out of the ordinary, to her at least.</p><p>"I'm sorry, what am I looking at here, Zu-zu?"</p><p>"Since when does uncle not snore?" He asked her, exchanging looks with each other before looking back at the suddenly disturbing image of their silent uncle. Honora sighed, before shoving Zuko out the way and walking inside quietly, her brother just behind her who yanked on her hair in retaliation, as they came to a stop at the foot of their uncles bed.</p><p>"Do you think he's dead?" She whispered, eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed, resisting the urge to kick him lightly with her boot. "Why would you say that?" He instantly snapped back, slapping the side of her arm with a glare.</p><p>"Look Zu-zu, old people die all the time." The dark-haired girl said offhandly, waving her hand across the air with the impression of nonchalance on her sharp features.</p><p>"He's not that old."</p><p>"He could be." She resorted, tilting her head to the side and letting her gaze trail over the man's wrinkled face with a critical eye. Now that she thought about it, did either of them actually know how old their uncle was? Had they ever asked?</p><p>"Should we just... try and wake him up?"</p><p>"What have you been doing for the past thirty minutes?" She questioned, staring at the boy like he'd grown a second head, judgement radiating from her being in waves as he rolled his eyes at her sass. "Hoping he was still breathing?"</p><p>It was silent for a few moments, the two continuing to stare at their uncle, awaiting for any sign of life from the still man but only coming up empty. Honora narrowed her eyes before lifting them, exchanging a look with her anxious brother beside her before shrugging, "...We could always poke him with a stick?"</p><p>"If either of you poke me with a stick, you aren't going to like the consequences."</p><p>The siblings each let put a sharp curse, one more colourful than the other and leapt back into each others arms as their uncle rose up with loud groan, stretching him arms above his head and sighing as his old bones cracked, before looking at his niece and nephew who stared back at him in horror as he stood up and clapped his hands together with a grin.</p><p>"Well, are we going?" <br/>________________________________________________</p><p>A man was thrown out of the window, hitting the ground with a girlish scream before slumping into the dirt. The poorly lit tavern behind him glowing ominously in the dark night, the sounds of cheers and screams over lapping it. Honora quirked a brow at it, arms crossed over her chest as she took it in. "Well, seems like it has a nice <em>friendly</em> atmosphere."</p><p>Iroh chuckled beside her, before getting interrupted as Zuko stormed ahead, not in the mood for his sister's dry jokes and went into the bar, said sister following behind him with a roll of her golden eyes. She liked it better when the Avatar hadn't been found, oh, the simpler times.</p><p>"Out of my way!" Zuko barked in annoyance as he shoved people out of his way, eyes locked onto the figure wrestling with a large bulky man who looked as though he was about to drown in his own sweat. "Step aside, filth!"</p><p>"He means no offense!" Iroh apologized quickly to the man Zuko had pushed as he followed after his nephew, intent on keeping the peace so Honora wouldn't have to. "I'm certain you bathe regularly."</p><p>"I wouldn't be so sure." Honora rumbled, twitching her nose and resisting the urge to pinch it at the putrid smell of dirt, sweat and sick assaulted her. Spirts above, how hard was it to take a dip in the river. Stinky bastards.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"I need to talk to you!" The banished prince stated loudly, eyes narrowed into an angry glare as he finally pushed through the crowds of the drunk earth-nation folk that had gathered around to watch the woman wrestle, hands above their heads and shouting encouragements. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, if it isn't my new friends, Angry Boy and Uncle Lazy." The woman commented dully, dark eyes sparing them a single glance as Iroh chuckled loudly, before her brow lifted slightly when she got sight of Honora standing just behind them, staring down a man who had almost stepped on her brothers foot as he whimpered and disappeared into the crowd.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, and you brought Princess Mute, how cute." She cooed before staring back at her component, missing the tall girls snarl, finally growing bored, the woman slammed the large man's hand down against the table and the crowd cheered at her victory, tossing money on the table as Honora narrowed her eyes, an idea forming inside her head as the man limped off, pride no doubt wounded.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Your beast trashed my ship." Zuko growled lowly, "You <em>have </em>to pay me back!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money." The woman stated as she collected her winnings then leaned back in her chair and addressed the boisterous crowd, instantly discrediting herself smugly. "Drinks on me!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The crowd cheered once more, though Honora seriously doubted they could do with anymore alcohol. Zuko suddenly grabbed the woman's wrist in a vice grip when she lifted her cup to her mouth, no doubt about to join them in the celebration. "Money isn't what I had in mind." Her brother stated lowly, his tone dangerous only for the woman to openly laugh in his face.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sorry kid, you're really not my type." She drawled, easily snagging her wrist out of his grip and smirking, Zuko snarled, hands heating uncomfortably in his anger, only to feel his sisters rough hand squeeze his shoulder before she stalked past him and sat promptly down in the seat opposite the woman, who watched the girl with amused eyes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Can I help you?" She asked with a smug smile, leaning her elbows against the table as Zuko and Iroh watched the two interact in confusion. "No, but you can help them." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And why would I do a thing like that?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora began to roll up her sleeves with a sigh, though not touching her gauntlets, and, while making eye contact with the dark-eyed woman, started to untie the water-benders necklace from around her wrist with a gentle touch, not wanting to damage it before slipping it into her pocket and resting her elbow on the table, open palm spread. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Because, you seem like a betting woman, so I'm going to give you a offer. If I win, you hear us out with whatever my brother is about to ask for-"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And when I win?" June interrupted, soft voice oozing confidence as she sized the fire-bender opposite her up, knowing a privileged little princess when she saw one and already liking her odds against her. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>If </em>you win, you can have anything you want." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Anything?" The woman asked, resting her elbow properly against the table and allowing her hand to trail seductively across the Princess's scarred one, her eyes glancing up and down Honora's body suggestively who smirked back at her. "Anything." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm June, by the way." The bounty-hunter supplied, interlocking the two's hands and instantly begining to start pulling the tall girls arm down, staring into her eyes smugly all the while her scarred hand got closer and closer to the tables edge, but all the fire-bender did was smirk at her, looking not the slightest bit alarmed or put off as her brother and uncle watched anxiously by the sidelines.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Honora." She said, just before gripping June's hand back and flipping it the the opposite side of the table with an echoing <b>bang.</b></p>
</div><div>
  <p>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>"I need you to find someone." Zuko told June, slipping his hand into his sisters pocket while she wasn't looking and pulling out the water-benders necklace, letting in dangle in his tight grip as the bounty hunter stared at it passively, still rubbing away the pain in her bruising wrist.</p><p>"What happened," June drawled sarcastically, still a bit sore from losing to what she had thought to be the 'privileged princess' as she leaned against her shirshu with her arms crossed, occasionally glancing at Honora, who was standing just behind her uncle, out of the corner of her eyes. "Your girlfriend run off on you?"</p><p>"It's not the girl I'm after," Zuko stated, deciding to ignore the woman's attempt at getting a rise out of him, pulling the necklace to his chest once again. "It's the bald monk she's traveling with."</p><p>June gave him an unamused look, "Whatever floats your boat." She told him, before grinning sharply as she heard the tall girl, <em>Honora</em>, her mind supplied, snort quietly into the palm of her hand. "If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship <em>paid for</em>." Zuko continued, just as Honora rolled her eyes, sometimes she really did wonder if her brother had been born without a brain.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Heh, forget it." June scoffed and started to climb into the shirshu's saddle but Iroh's next words made her pause. "Plus, we'll pay your weight in <em>gold</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>June smiled and walked over to Iroh, poking his rounded belly, shooting a suggestive look at Honora, gaze travelling from the girls pointed boots to her golden eyes and smirking before looking back to Iroh. "Make it <em>your </em>weight and <em>her </em>height, and we gotta deal."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Iroh laughed merrily, not minding the jab at his weight while his niece huffed to herself quietly, she wasn't even that much taller than the woman in front of her. "You got it!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Get on!" June instructed as she grabbed the necklace from Zuko and pushing it under her shirshu's nose, patting its neck comfortably while she was squatted down beside it. Honora rolled her eyes, before stomping her foot onto the ground, white fire erupting from her heel and rocketing her up into the air and on the creatures back with a grunt. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She heard a whine, and glanced down to see Iroh staring up at her, bottom lip trembling. "I wanted to sit there." He murmured.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Don't be gross, uncle." She snapped, before offering the man her arm and heaving him up nonchalantly. The beast below them growled savagely, just as June threw herself up onto the saddle, swaying purposely and Honora was quick to hold her hips to steady the woman, her grip hard and bruising.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>June glanced behind her with a smirk, "Don't be shy, I like it rough." <br/>________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The shirshu suddenly jerked to a stop among some ruins and Honora almost fell off the saddle, her arm wrapped around June's annoyingly strong torso was the only thing that kept her upright, though she truly did loathe to admit it. She sat up straighter, narrowing her eyes for any sign of threat but coming up empty.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?" An elderly woman with a cat asked as she stood and turned to the face the five sitting on the creature, seemingly the only inhabitants the strange ruins had to offer.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We're looking for someone." Zuko replied, his tone harsh and demanding as he stared at the old woman suspiciously. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I hope it's not Miyuki." The elderly woman said then she looked at the fluffy white cat standing beside her, who purred innocently while it had her attention. "Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation, again?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Again?" Honora asked, brows raised in confusion, the elder woman shot the tall girl a smile, opening her mouth to explain only to be interrupted by June who only had eyes for the beast she was sat on, knowing its mannerisms like the back of her hand. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The Avatar's been through here. Let's keep moving." The bounty-woman cracked her whip and Nyla shot forward, back on the Water Tribe girl's trail while Honora rolled her eyes, this was starting to get annoying. <br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora winced slightly as she listened to the terrified yells of the villagers as they fled from Nyla in fear as the giant beast raced through their village, the shrill screams grinding against her forming headache. The shirshu pulled to a stop in front of a building where an older woman in yellow robes stood, completely calm, as if what was happening was an every day occurrence.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Why are we stopping this time?" Honora snapped, looking out ahead of her but not seeing any sign of the Avatar and his friends once again, this was starting to feel rather anticlimactic. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Because the girl must have spent a lot of time here." June explained flatly and Zuko growled to himself, no doubt just as annoyed as his sister but a lot less patient about the results. "We have no time for this!" He snapped as he jumped off Nyla's back, snatching the necklace out of his sisters hand and thrusted it in front of the shirshu's nose.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Nyla hissed in agitation and snapped her tongue out at Zuko, who barely managed to duck down to avoid it, remembering the countless times Honora and Ty-lee had chi-blocked him and not wanting to re-live the experience any time soon."Hey!" Zuko snapped as he straightened and glared at the creature, "Watch it!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh look, he likes you!" June cooed as Iroh laughed with a hand on his belly, feeling it shake underneath it. "Calm it, Zu-zu." Honora ordered, though even she had a smile on her lips watching the beast and her brother have a minor stare down. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah <em>Zu-zu.</em>" June mocked, only for the prince to look up sharply and send her an angry glare, fists clenched tightly by his side and metaphorical steam pouring out of his ears. "Honora is the only one who gets to call me that." He snapped darkly, as his sister hid her grin by looking off to the side. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The old woman dressed in yellow and browns approached the shirshu, no fear or hesitation and addressed Iroh with her hands on her hips.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Care to hear your fortune, handsome?" She offered flirtatiously while Honora tried desperately not to gag. "At my age, there's only one big surprise left," Iroh replied serenely with a smile, "And I'd just as soon leave it a mystery."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The woman chuckled, before sliding her gaze across the saddle and meeting Honora's golden eyes with her brown ones. "Well, aren't you a tall one, hm? What about you, would you like to hear your fortune?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I know how my future is going to end. Trust me, there's not alot of surprises there." Honora told her, knowing she was going to end in fire and blood, just like she always had known, it's not like there hadn't ever been another option for her. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, I don't know. I think you're in for a big one, and sooner than you think." She told the fire-bender, her dark eyes twinkling as she glanced to the blue necklace that she had snatched back out of her brothers hand. Aunt Wu watched as the creature ran off, his occupants huddled together on it's back and smiled a secret smile to herself. <em><b>Yes</b></em><em><b>, it would be a big </b></em><em><b>surprise</b></em><em><b> indeed. </b></em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>The group of four had an easier route during the afternoon, though Honora had been struggling to keep her eyes open the longer they moved around, and just as her eyes were about to flutter shut, the beast underneath her suddenly picked up speed, sprinting through the trees like hell itself was chasing after them.</p><p>"What the <em>hell </em>is wrong with it now?" Honora snarled, alot more alert now that her life was at risk, due to the threat of falling off the quick creature, grunting as she felt Iroh wrap his arms around her waist unexpectedly and knock the wind right out of her.</p><p>"She's got the scent!" June replied gleefully, as they burst through the clearing, and sure enough, through Honora's blurry eyes, she was able to make out to blobs of blue running away from them as they caught sight of just who was actually on the monster. However, they were quickly cornered as Honora leapt off the beast, white fire shooting out of her foot to give her a boost and landing in front of the duo with a sharp grin.</p><p>"Hey, blue-eyes." She purred, golden eyes twinkling as she stared the siblings down, snapping her jaw mockingly and enjoying the boys flinch.</p><p>"So this is your girlfriend." June stated as she looked Katara over while Zuko jumped from the saddle, before looking down at the angry fire-bender nonchalantly, resting her elbows against the saddle. "No wonder she left, she's way to pretty for you."</p><p>"Where is he?" Zuko demanded as he stomped towards the siblings, bringing up the rear and trapping them completely. "Where is the Avatar?"</p><p>"We split up." Sokka snapped, face twisting into a ugly scowl as he faced the scarred prince, trying to push his sister behind him before remembering that's where the deadly princess was. Though Katara didn't seem to care, too busy glaring into the Princess's golden eyes when she caught sight of her necklace still hanging from around her wrist. "He's long gone."</p><p>"How stupid do you think I am?" Honora quirked a brow at her brother, her face matching her thoughts of, really? That had to be a trick question.</p><p>"Pretty stupid." Sokka replied with a smirk then he grabbed Katara's arm and yanked her behind him when he started running past the jerk-bender in front of him, knowing the boy was most definitely the lesser threat. "Run!"</p><p>Honora didn't even get a chance to give chase as Nyla's tongue lashed out, striking both Katara and Sokka at the same time and the two siblings fell to the ground, completely paralyzed. Honora almost winced as they both got a mouthful of dirt, she could only hope for their sake that some creature hadn't previously peed there, then again, that would at least make the day funnier.</p><p>"What are we supposed to do now?" Zuko demanded in irritation as he looked at the two Water Tribe peasants lying on the ground. June clicked her tongue and nudged Nyla's sides with her heels, urging the shirshu towards them, "It's seeking a different scent." June stated as Nyla began to sniff the Water Tribe boy, "Perhaps something that the Avatar held."</p><p>Nyla knocked a scroll from Sokka's pack and began sniffing it, then he lifted his head in the direction of abbey, screeching loudly. Honora and Zuko exhanged grins, before he nodded over to the siblings. Honora strolled over, a small smirk on her features as she looked down at the two with a fake concerned look on her features. "Aw, are the little water-tribe peasants feeling helpless?"</p><p>"...A little." Sokka admitted truthfully as Katara scowled over to him, if she had actual use of her limbs, she would of loved to aim a kick at his stupid shins, but for klnow she had to be content with glaring at him and hoping he'd spontaneously combust.</p><p>"Don't worry, <em>I'll</em> look after you." She mocked, before bending down and picking the two up by the scruff of their shirts, and after a few moments of fumbling around to get them in position, lifted the two over her shoulders as if they were sacks of potatoes. Now, Sokka, who was feeling rather emasculated, could even reluctantly admit that it was impressive.</p><p>"Just how strong are you, princess freakshow?" June purred, sliding down her pet and moving alongside the girl with the intent to help but instead watching as she tied to two water-tribers to the back of the saddle with practiced ease. Honora smirked, tightening her grip before shooting a look over to the woman, suggestion in her eyes as she trailed her gaze down her body and back up.</p><p>"Strong enough."</p><p>Katara huffed, rolling her eyes and scowling at the floor, as Sokka looked at the two like his wet-dream had finally come true. June smirked, before jumping back onto the shirshu, seeing no point in hovering as Honora finished up, making sure the two couldn't fall and escape before pausing, staring at the water-bender with a grin.</p><p>"What?" Katara snapped, feeling the fire-benders gaze on her but barely able to lift her head to meet it. Honora chuckled to herself, before fiddling with something on her wrist, and making her way over to the girl once more.</p><p>"Hey! Get awAy from my sister!" Sokka shouted, wincing at his voice crack but unable to do anything as the Princess began to tie something around Katara's neck, who tried her hardest to struggle away but her body wouldn't cooperate, before her eyes went wide as she felt the familar weight of her mother's necklace resting against her throat.</p><p>"What-"</p><p>"Well, there's no point in <em>me</em> keeping it is there? Not when you're <em>already</em> our prisoners." Honora told her, shrugging her shoulders, before turning her back and climbing up the shirshu, blood-red lips pulling up into a cocky smile, before they had suddenly taken off once more. <br/>_________________________________________________</p><p></p><div>
  <p>The nuns cried out in fright and scattered when the creature crashed through the abbey wooden gates again, Honora lifting her gauntlet-covered arm to cover June's face from the sharp splinters, ignoring the woman's smirk as she did so. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What's it doing?" Zuko asked in annoyance as Nyla began sniffing the ground and turning in circles, "It's just going in a circle."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Nyla turned in a circle again, it's strange nose twitching then lifted his head to follow the blue scent trail just as Aang flew straight towards them. The shirshu stood on his hind legs as Aang flew over him and lashed out with his tongue, missing the Avatar completely as he continued to fall backwards which threw off his rides. Honora grunted, landing on the hard floor before hearing the two water-tribers crying out in pain. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She looked up, to see them getting squished under the shirshu's weight, and after a moment of hesitation ran forward, Sai shooting out from its hidden compartment in her wrist guards and slashing them free from their bonds. They were no use if they were dead, after all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aang!" Katara exclaimed excitedly as she fell properly against the dirt, grinning when she saw the Avatar just as June jumped to her feet, her face twisting into an aggressive snarl.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Up!" the bounty woman barked at her shirshu with a snap of her whip and Nyla rolled to his <br/>feet, June jumping back into the saddle a moment later. Aang landed near the well and turned around, staring at the large creature and its rider as they charged towards him only to have Appa knock them away as he rammed into the shirshu's side. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Appa snorted and growled angrily as he stood in front of the downed duo, leaving Aang and Zuko to face each other behind him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora glanced over to them then back down at the siblings by her feet, before rolling her eyes, grabbing hold of the water-tribers and dragging them away from the action, throwing them against the wall roughly and sending them a dark glare. "Stay down." </p>
</div><p>An explosive reaction interrupted her train of thought, and she quickly spun round, her golden eyes wide as she started at the mushroom of smoke rising from where Zuko and the Avatar once stood, only to to sigh in relief when her brother landed on the roof behind him with a grunt, armour smoking before her eyes became cold, glaring over to where the Avatar laid, fingers sparking.</p><p>Suddenly, her ear twitched and she quickly ducked to the side just as the Avatars bison's tail swung over her head, and slammed down where she had once stood, growling at the girl aggressively when he had caught sight of her. She narrowed her golden eyes before leaping into the air, dodging its paw with a twist only to land next to its leg and slam her charged hand into it.</p><p>The bison groaned, trying to take a step forward with the same zapped leg only to find he couldn't move it, the lightning that had coursed through it leaving it numb and useless at his side.</p><p>Honora smirked, <em>the shirshu wasn't the only one who could paralyze their prey</em>, before she lunged forward once more, electricity building around her hand as she jammed it into the bison's side, June and her pet coming up behind her and using Nyla's tongue to help.</p><p>The toxins and lightning eventually proved too much, and Appa slumped to the ground groaning weakly as his eyes tracked their movements but unable to do anything more than that. June raised her whip once more, and struck it down, smiling at the sharp crack that came with it.</p><p>Appa closed his eyes, awaiting the pain with a miserable moan but instead feeling nothing but the air in his fur, the hairy bison opened his eyes to see Honora standing in front of him, holding the end of the whip in her bleeding palm, pretty features twisted up into a glare.</p><p>"It's down. Move along." She snarled, making eye contact with June who quirked a brow up at the girl, before doing as suggested, Honora quickly following not giving the beast another glance, joining her brother as he cornered the Avatar but making no move to shoot fire at the boy, instead twirling her sai around her fingers.</p><p>In that short of a space, her white flame would take no prisoners.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Unknown to her, the nuns and Sokka had quietly pushed the pots over, spilling the perfume onto the ground around Katara, who began to Waterbend the perfume into the air where she then directed it over to where they all had Aang cornered, dumping the perfume all around the creature. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora let out a sharp grunt as the smell suddenly hit her, before her eyes went wide, figuring out their plan a moment too late as Nyla shook his head rapidly as the perfume began to clog his nose and his 'vision' began to blur together until he couldn't see anything clearly. The panicked shirshu screeched and lashed out randomly with its tongue, hitting Zuko in the chest and knocking him to the ground with a loud gasp of surprise.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora managed to duck out of the way, trying to lead the creature away from her downed brother and succeeding, but not before it struck her twice in the neck, and once in the arm causing her to fall with a growl. Her head turning and making eye contact with the bison she had helped bring down.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Oh yeah, she was definitely getting stepped on when it was able to move its limbs. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>June jumped from the saddle and tried to sooth her pet, dark eyes narrowed in concern but Nyla was too panicked and he swung his head, lashing out at the bounty woman with his tongue. "June! No!" Iroh cried out dramtically as he hurried forward and caught the now paralyzed woman in his arms, both of them falling to the ground.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The Avatar and his friends reunited happily, slamming together in a group hug, before Aang caught sight of his bison, who was now struggling to get up and gasped loudly. "Appa!" He yelled, running towards him, brown eyes wide with concern as he wrapped his short limbs around its head the best he could. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes as the water-tribe boy suddenly leaned over her, bringing her attention over to him, his hands on his hips and a smug smile on his lips, before he frowned mockingly. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aw, is the wittle fire-bender feeling a little helpless?" He asked, clasping his hands under his chin and fluttering his eyelashes. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora closed her eyes, focusing on the mounting fire burning in her core, before her golden eyes snapped open, making eye contact with his before she expelled her white flame from her mouth, eyes watering at the dull pain but thinking it worth it as he let of a high-pitched scream and fell on his ass. She laughed openly, even though it hurt and caused her voice to sound raspy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm <em><b>never </b></em>helpless." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh yeah!" Sokka snapped, face turning a splochy dark pink in his embarrassment and anger, before he reached back and pulled his boomerang from out of its casing, raising it above his head, not intending to actually injure her, but wanting to see the fear in her eyes, to make a fool out of her like she had him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Sokka! Stop!" </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>He didn't get the chance, as Appa suddenly roared and covered her body with his own. The Airbenders bison stared down him down as Sokka and the others sputtered in shock, before the beast growled low in its chest, and moved away from her, nosing her still bleeding hand gently as she grunted. <em>Yeah you hairy monster, </em><em>I</em><em> get it we're even. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>She watched out of the corner of her eye as they all climbed aboard, Katara making eye-contact once more, touching her necklace gently and smiling before turning her back to the dangerous fire-bender, allowing Aang to help her up before they flew off into the sky. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora couldn't even find it in herself to pretend to care. <br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When the toxin's had worn off, June had thrown herself away from Iroh, looking around anxiously for any sign of Nyla but coming up empty, before turning and cursing out the two male Firebenders and stalking off, muttering insults under her breath, and forgetting about her promise of gold, too busy worrying about her pet. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>However in the dead of night, after she had found the shirshu, when the rough-housing in the bar had quieted down, leaving silence in its place and June had finally allowed herself to fall asleep in one of the rooms above it, she was awoken from her dreams by a loud and confident knocking on the green-painted wooden doors. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She sat up with a snarl, hand reaching under her pillow for her lone dagger and made her way to the door. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Who is is?" She growled, voice still rough from her interrupted sleep. But there was no answer, she sighed to herself once more, grip tightening on her dagger before swinging the door open abruptly and meeting the cool gaze of the princess, who was leaning against the frame with her shoulder, arms crossed and brow raised.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Princess freakshow." June greeted, throwing her blade back into her room and copying the girls suave pose against the opposite side of wall. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You forgot your gold." The princess murmured with a shrug, lips curling into a smirk as June glanced all around with an amused look in her dark eyes, not seeing anything other than the tall girl standing in front of her, no sign of her treasure or anything of the sort. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Where is it then?" She asked, strangely not angry at the possible con. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Here." Honora finally raised her gaze, meeting June's eyes with her golden ones for a split second before moving swiftly and slamming her lips to June's roughly, trapping the woman's upper lip between hers, gauntlet covered arm raising to cup the back of the woman's neck as she took control over the kiss, allowing herself to be tugged further into the room by an impatient June, who had started to tug at the Princess's golden belt. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora paused, just for a moment, stopping the older woman's frantic hands and looked into her eyes once more. "You want this?" She slurred with a dark rasp to her deep voice, golden eyes anxious with want but refusing to move until she got the consent she wanted.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em><b>Spirits yes</b></em>." June growled, before twisting the two around and pushing the princess onto her bed with a massive grin splitting her face, reaching to the side and clasping her fingers over her trusty whip, and with a quick wink, used it to slam the door shut behind them, the loud crack ringing out through the quiet night.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In the morning, Honora would already be gone, back to the ship to play protector to her older brother on his hunt for the Avatar and his friends while June will wake up to an empty bed, strangely disappointed but not suprised before moving on to the next bounty, but for tonight, and only for tonight, they allowed themselves that simple moment of weakness. </p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Honora does it for the girls and the gays, that's it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"I'm going to rip his lungs out."</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Honora trailed her fingers across the tapestry of the fire-nation </b><b>symbol</b><b> on Zuko's wall, fingering the frayed edge and resisting </b><b>the</b><b> urge to set it alight, aware of her </b><b>brothers</b><b> suspicious eyes watching her as she walked around the room, not </b><b>giving</b><b> him the slightest </b><b>amount</b><b> of attention. </b>Content in being in her own world, and as a bonus, setting her brother on edge.</p><p>"What <em>are</em> you doing in my room?" He finally snapped after a few <em>mere </em>minutes of silence, patience <em>shockingly</em> wearing thin.</p><p>"What's wrong? Am I making you nervous?" The dark-haired girl asked with a quirked brow, trying to tame down the laughter that wanted to escape her at the sight of her brothers scowl. Annoying him was always so easy.</p><p>"When you have that look on your face? Yes." He deadpanned with a roll of his eyes, shifting around on his bed unti he was sitting up, feet braced against the floor and leaning his elbows across them, still glaring at his sisters back suspiciously, he still hadn't forgiven her for the fire-flakes incident it seemed. She idly wondered what would happen if she told him it had been Iroh's idea all along.</p><p>"Seriously, why are you here?"</p><p>"Can't a sister want to spend some time with her older brother <em>without</em> an ulterior motive?" She asked, finally turning to face him with a smile, crossing her arms over her armoured chest and cocking her hip to the side. Zuko narrowed his eyes. "No."</p><p>It was silent for a few moments, the two staring at each other, one with a smirk curling around her red-painted lips, while the other was contemplating if shoving her out of his room and quite possibly, losing a hand doing so, was worth it. Suddenly, it all clicked into place.</p><p>"There's a spider in your room, isn't there?"</p><p>"...Yes, can you go kill it please." She grumbled solemnly, eye twitching at admitting to her weakness, but knowing, thought somewhat subconsciously, that she could trust her brother, after all, he'd been resistant spider-killer for four years and counting.</p><p>Zuko sighed, bending down to take off his boot in preparation with a roll of his eyes. His sister, the firenation's greatest weapon, one of the strongest benders the world would ever see and the bravest person he knew, forcing <em>him</em> to get rid of an eight-legged creature. Talk about irony.</p><p>"Where is it?"</p><p>"On the wall next to my bed. And, completely unrelated to the spider, I need a new wardrobe, mine was...burned down." She told him, back straight with her arms crossed behind her, looking as though she was giving him a military report instead of the fact that she had almost burned her room down, again.</p><p>He stood up, his sister following just behind him, only for the door to suddenly open before they reached it, the two exchanged confused glances just as Iroh popped his head around it, giving the two a serious look. Honora paused, looking into her uncles eyes and instantly was put on edge, there was a ominous feeling in her gut that told her he wasn't there to force them to come to music night, she grabbed a hold of Zuko's shirt and pulled him closer to her, golden eyes narrowed in unease.</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>"For the last time. I'm not playing the tsungi horn!" Zuko snapped, unable to pick up on the sudden tension and fidgeting in his sisters grip, shooting her a strange look out of the corner of his eye.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No, it's about our plans." Iroh said worriedly as he looked at his nephew and niece carefully and stepped further into the dimly lit room, feeling a strong sense of relief as Honora pushed her smaller brother even further back behind her, golden eyes quickly turning cold. "There's a bit of a <em>problem</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Suddenly Zhao stepped into the room, standing slightly behind Iroh as he stared at the banished prince darkly, Honora's upper lip curled as she crouched slightly, getting ready to attack at a moments notice, feeling somewhat feral at being backed into a corner.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm taking your crew." The Admiral stated matter-of-factly with a smug smile.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What?!" Zuko demanded, pushing himself away from his sister, who moved forward as if she were about to follow before deciding against it, moving to stand a foot or so away from the older man as Honora's fingers began to spark.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm taking them for a little expedition to the North Pole." Zhao said with a smirk as he walked around Iroh and stood in front of the seething prince.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Uncle, is that true?" The scarred boy asked in disbelief as he looked over Zhao's shoulder at his uncle, praying to any spirit listening that it wasn't. "I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone." Iroh confirmed then covered his eyes with his arm in sadness, Honora was pretty sure if she rolled her eyes now, they'd roll into the back of her head. "Even the cook."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar." Zhao sneered down at the prince, before looking over his shoulder to smirk at his sister. "But I can't have <em>you</em> getting in my way again, but don't worry princess, I'll be sure to tell your lady friend you said 'hi'."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zuko growled and charged towards Zhao with fire burning his eyes, only for Honora to move quicker, grabbing him once more by the scruff of his neck and throwing him behind her, cold eyes dark as she stared the man down. "I'm only going to say this once," She told him slowly, still keeping her struggling brother at arms length.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<b>Get </b><em><b>off</b></em><b> my ship</b>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The admiral scoffed, going to take a step further into the room, only to take a sharp step back as the candles resting on the table beside him roared to life, flickering between blue and white, the Princess's eyes filled with murderous intent and fingers sparking with deadly warning.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He snarled, giving the girl one last glare, before turning around, about to make his exist before stopping in his tracks as he caught sight of something shining in the corner of his eye.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko." Zhao stated with feigned interested as he picked up one of the swords, remembering how the Blue Spirit had used the same kind of swords back at Pohuai Stronghold to rescue the Avatar.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm not." Zuko replied and looked off to the side, "They're antiques, just decorative."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora's eye twitched as she resisted the urge to turn around and give her brother a confused look, Zuko had been training with those swords since he turned <em>nine</em>, and though she loathed to admit it, he was pretty impressive. She didn't know why he was lying, and the second Zhao was off the ship, she intended to find out.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"They were our great-great-great-great grandfathers <em>admiral</em>. For someone with such an intense need to be the fire-lords right-hand asshole, I would of thought you'd know that."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She told him with a cool smirk, reaching behind once more to pinch the pale skin of her brother arm behind her, who muffled his yelp with a cough, shooting a glare to the side of her head before moving slightly to stand beside her, elbowing her in the ribs when Zhao wasn't looking.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zhao forced a chuckle while narrowing his eyes at Honora, scarred face crinking before he scrutinized the prince skeptically then began examining the broadsword in his hand as he addressed Iroh, "Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Just rumors." Iroh answered flippantly, "I don't think he's real."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"He's real alright. He's a criminal and an enemy of the Fire Nation." Zhao stated as he walked towards them then twisted the sword so the blade was facing down as he held it out to Iroh, who took the broadsword from the Admiral's hand gently, exchanging looks with his niece who had moved closer to him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"But I have a feeling justice will catch up with him soon." Zhao continued as he walked towards the door to the cabin and paused in the doorway with one hand on the door, "General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands...if you change your mind."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora kicked against the floor, sparks shooting up and the admiral quickly closed the door shut, eyes wide and panicked. No doubt remembering the last time he came in contact with her dangerous fire as she smirked, eyes cold with righteous fury, the princess was usually so calm and collected, but no one got her veins burning like that man.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Wait. Did you say he was taking everyone?" The tall girl asked after a moment of silence, eyes losing their sharpness as a thought came to mind, panic suddenly overtaking her as her uncle nodded solemnly, sending the girl a sympathetic look. "Everyone...and <em>everything</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zu, she realised with mounting horror. He was going to take Zu.<br/>
_________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>"Honora?"</p><p>The door to her bedroom popped open as Iroh leaned his head through the gap, sighing at the sight of his young niece meditating with her back towards him, shoulders tense and the candles lighted next to her flickering blue, showing her turmoil better then her face ever would.</p><p>"I am so sorry about your creature." He told her softly, walking into the room fully after a small moment of hesitation, his hands tucked into the opposite corners of his sleeves. It was strange to see his niece distraught over something, compared to the days where she was the feared princess of the firenation, who wouldn't of even spared a blink at having a knife to her throat, nevermind the loss of a pet.</p><p>"Leave me, I need to meditate." She answered without turning around, jaw so clenched she feared it would snap in its place.</p><p>"It's a lovely night for a walk, I had hoped you and your brother might wish to join me? Perhaps it would clear your heads." He asked hopefully, staring at his niece with empathetic eyes and wanting to ease the pain she desperately was keeping hidden.</p><p>"Not tonight, uncle. I wish to be alone." Honora told him, though not unkindly. She missed the times when she was seen as a machine, an emotionless and unfeeling monster who cared for nothing but blood and carnage, but it seemed the further away from her father's clutches she was, the more human she became. And she hated it with every fiber of her being.</p><p>"I see," he murmured softly, reaching a hand up to rub his beard, resisting the urge to sigh. "Perhaps I will have better luck with your brother."</p><p>"Perhaps."</p><p>She listened carefully as he turned and walked away quietly, sandals hitting off the metal floor with a soft 'clack' before he opened the door and left, leaving it open in his wake as he continued his path further and further away until she could no longer hear him.</p><p>Her eyes opened solemnly, staring into the wall in front of her, the mantra ringing inside her head, over and over and over again, each sounding more broken than the last, before her eyes fluttered shut once more, and she fell into a state that was half asleep, but half awake, the true form of meditation. The words still echoing quietly, <em>Love makes you stupid. Stupid gets you </em><em><b>killed.</b></em></p><p>When she finally pulled out of her trance, the moon was almost touching the horizon of the sea, resting gently upon it and bathing the ocean in its ethereal glow. She watched the lapping waves from her window for a moment, before she paused, turning her ear towards the door as she heard a noise from up deck.</p><p>Her golden eyes turned cold as she walked towards the door, sai shooting out from her wrist gauntlet as she twirled it between her fingers, upper lip curling as she caught a glimpse of a shadow walking towards her room alongside their soft breathing.</p><p>They turned in, and Honora realised a moment too late that it was Zuko as she threw her sai and pinned his arm to the wall by the sleeve, sending the boy crashing into metal with a grunt. "It's just me, Honora." He hissed, reaching up to pull it out with his free hand before throwing it back to her, rubbing his wrist to make sure she hadn't nicked him.</p><p>"You should of announced yourself, you <em>know</em> sudden moved make me jumpy...and homicidal." She snapped, tugging her weapon back inside her gauntlet and rolling her eyes.</p><p>"Has uncle came back?" She asked, shifting on her feet to stretch, groaning in satisfaction as her back cracked and muscles pulled and released their tension from staying still for so long, before she shook herself out of it, quirking a brow at her brother.</p><p>"So you heard it too?" Zuko said, stepping further into the room and causing his sister to halt, slowly turning to give him a look. "It wasn't you?"</p><p>"No, Honora. We're the only ones on the ship."</p><p>"Something tells me that isn't as true as you hope." The tall girl growled, golden eyes flashing with a certain darkness as the two exchanged looks, if there was someone on the ship, then the only way they were <em>leaving </em>said ship, would be when they threw their burned corpse <em>overboard</em>.<br/>
_________________________________________________</p><p>The two walked into the navigation room cautiously, Honora walking in front and ready to face the brunt of any attack with her hand alight with white flame, bathing the room in an ominous glow. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the empty room, the hairs on her body standing upright, warning her that something was off, but what? She couldn't tell.</p><p>"Are you sure this is where the noise came from dum-dum?" She asked, turning to look at her brother as he rubbed the back of his neck in bewilderment. "Because if this is prank to get me back for the fire-flakes, I'm going to ram your broadswords so far up your ass-"</p><p>"- <em>Spirits</em> Honora, do you always have to go so hard?" He snapped with grimace, shuddering from the mental image his sister had implanted in his brain and resisting the urge to cover the threatned body part, knowing that would just fuel her on even more so.</p><p>Zuko turned his back, scratching his head as he began to walk out of the room, his sister following behind with a sigh before they both froze in their track at the sight of a very familar reptile-parrot that had belonged to the pirate captain, the one who had most of his crew slaughtered by his vengeful sister.</p><p>The siblings and the reptile-bird stared at each for a moment before Honora shot a fireball over to it, smiting it to ash before realization dawned upon her, golden eyes widening as she felt the air change, felt it begin to heat, warning her, warning them what was about to happen. She only had a moment to react, she had to move, she had to get to -</p><p>"<b>ZUKO</b>!"</p><p>Zuko grunted as his sisters tall figure enveloped him, her front to his back, squatting the two down and he didn't get a chance to ask what was happening as the explosion suddenly blew the ship apart from around them. Honora's ivory fire rising to meet it to cushion their blow as they were lifted and thrown out of the window into the unforgiving sea below them.</p><p>Underneath the waves, the bright glowing flames of the wrecked ship painted a catastrophic picture as Zuko breached the water, gasping for breath and grabbing on to a piece of driftwood, hearing his uncle calling his name desperately over the roaring flames.</p><p>"Uncle! Over here!" He called, waving his arm and meeting Iroh's relief filled gaze with his own before his eyes widened as he remembered he hadn't been the only one on the ship, he began to look around the wreckage desperately, eyes panicked and face fearful. Honora wasn't here, Honora took the brunt of the explosion, <em>Honora couldn't swim</em>, <b><em>Honora was still under water. </em></b></p><p>The prince's amber eyes narrowed, and with one more apologetic look to his uncle, he took a deep gulp of air before letting go of the wood and dunked his body back into the freezing waters below, searching through the murky waters desperately for a flash of gold and red. Ignoring the sting of saltwater clouding his vision as he pushed through, cheeks puffed out as he tried to keep his breath steady.</p><p>He finally caught something out of the corner of his eye, chest feeling tight and taunt, as if there was a large weight pressing against it, and he turned his head quickly to see Honora steadily sinking down, down, <em>down</em> into the darkness below, hands floating in front of her, dark hair whipping through the water and eyes closed.</p><p>He pushed himself further down, kicking his legs in quick succession, his ears starting to ring as he picked out more of his sisters features, her pale face bruised beyond recognition and blood turning the waters a rusty scarlet. His eyes narrowed further and with one final strong stroke, he caught his sisters wrist, tugging her closer into his chest before beginning to swim to the top, praying to any spirit listening that whe would be alright. <em>Honora will get up. Honora always gets back up.</em></p><p>He breached the surface, gasping for air and quickly started to swim towards the shore where uncle had padded it, eyes scanning over the two worridly. <em>Honora will get up. Honora always gets back up.</em></p><p>As soon as they reached the shore, Iroh pulled the barely recognisable Honora into his arms, moving out of the waters and laying her onto the sand, setting his head to her chest quickly, hoping for a sound of life but coming up empty. He only waited for a another tense moment before he sat up and began pressing onto her chest desperately at Zuko watched behind him anxiously. <em>Honora will get up. Honora always gets back up. </em></p><p>A chest compression.</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>Another chest compression.</p><p>Nothing once more.</p><p>And then, Honora's golden eyes snapped open as she sputtered for breath, shooting up with from her position to crouch into a stance weakly, chest still heaving and eyes frantic, sai shooting out from her wrist gauntlet and twirling between shaking fingers as she glared all around her, water continuing to be coughed out from her lungs as she took in her surroundings sluggishly, before recognising her brother and uncle, slumping into their sides with a weak groan.</p>
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  <p>Zuko sighed in relief, Honora got back up, she would <em><b>always </b></em>get back up.</p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Disclaimer; I know this chapter is very short, and that we haven't seen much of Katara and the Gaang, but that is because I wanted the first season to be focused on something that is important to Honora, her family. However big changes are going to be happening to our fire princess in the next chapters, hope y'all are ready.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Don't look back."</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div>
  <p><b>It was quiet on the ship, which, in all honesty did come at a </b><b>surprise</b><b>, a vessel this large would usually be brimming with life and conversations, and yet there was barely an ushered word.</b> Honora wondered if it was because of her and her brothers supposed 'deaths'. After all, they may of been seen as traitors to the firenation, but they <em>were</em> still royalty, but, then again, the crew had no qualms about trying to murder the two of them on numerous occasions. </p>
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  <p>No, the reason the crew was so quiet was due to the upcoming siege of the Northern water-tribe. The anticipation and tensions abroad the ship bringing time to a still, as they moved through the motions of their jobs, readying themselves for a battle they may not survive, and she had no doubt that thought had terrified them.</p>
</div><p>Mentally, she scoffed. There was no reason to fear death, it was inevitable, she'd made peace with that long ago.</p><p>Behind a skull-like mask, Honora rolled her golden eyes, well, golden <em>eye.</em> Her left one had swelled up to the point she could no longer see out of it, pale skin twisted into a dark blue with sploshes of purple, just like the rest of her body, except her back, which was a blistering dark pink. In all honesty, she didn't see the point of wearing the uniformed disguise, her face was so bruised it was beyond recognition. However, this was uncle's plan, so laying low was her only role...for now.</p><p>That, and tending to the komodo rhinos.</p><p>She grunted under her breath, hands gripping the wooden end of the shovel tightly as she buried it under the pile of hay, lifting it with relative struggle before dumping it over a random pen, listening to the happy grunts of the large animals as they began to chomp on it loudly, sweat gathering across the front of her forehead, but her arms were too sore to wipe it away.</p><p>Instead she placed the shovel to the side, done for the time being and exhausted, rolling her shoulders and wincing at the cracks they gave before strolling over towards the pen tucked into a dark corner, where the only reason she considered doing these menial tasks awaited her.</p><p>Zu, large and as hulking as ever snorted loudly, blowing strands of loose hay into the air as he did so, Honona grimaced as she witnessed a glob of gooey looking snot slap the floor, shuddering in disgust. Zu huffed once more, pawing at the ground and groaning as she came closer, recognising her scent and stomping his feet happily.</p><p>"Easy, <em>easy. </em>You keep doing that and you're going to go through the floor." She warned, voice barely louder than a whisper, low and hoarse as she came to a stop just in front of him, pushing her arm over the gate where he eagerly met her, rubbing his snout against her palm with a happy huff. She chuckled, patting against the rough skin with a small smile, but the skin of her split lip stretching unpleasantly made it quickly drop.</p><p>She stayed like that for a few moments, her face blank under the mask but her golden eye showing everything she couldn't, before she felt more than heard a presence enter the room behind her, her ear twitching as she tilted her head slightly, not turning around to face them but having a suspicion.</p><p>"Waters look cold."</p><p>Honora's lips twitched upwards for a moment, knowing who it was the second they stepped into the den, even more so after they whispered their secret greeting and feeling relieved that her instincts hadn't lead her astray yet. "We <em>are </em>in the north, brother mine."</p><p>Zuko, his face hidden from view, used it as an opportunity to roll his eyes, before reaching up to take the offending skull-like disguise off, blinking quickly and giving his eyes a quick rub as the bright lights from the flickering white candles assaulted him, making him frustrated at Honora's lack of care.</p><p>"Would you <em>stop that.</em> You're stupid fire will give us away."</p><p>"<em>Please</em>, if anyone caught me, they wouldn't be <b>alive</b> long enough to tell the tale. Such a worry wart." She said, giving Zu a final pat on the snout, scratching slightly as he grumbled before turning around to finally give her brother the attention he was demanding, quirking a brow at his pouty lips and crossed arms as she took off her mask too, ignoring his flinch at the sight of her.</p><p>"Your face looks awful."</p><p>"Well at least mine isn't <em>permanent." </em>She snapped back, rolling her eyes and placing her helmet in the crook of her arm, while resting it lightly on her hip, giving her brother a once-over as he scowled. Thankfully, he didn't look as bad as she did, a bruise on the side of his cheek where he'd hit it off of her shoulder and a burn across his arm where her 'hellfire' hadn't of protected him from the other flames. She quickly swallowed down her guilt to smirk at him.</p><p>"So, you thought of a plan yet? I do hope its better than your last few. I want to be in and out as quickly as possible." Honora taunted, biting the air at her brother mockingly as he rolled his eyes. She moved to the side, about to lean against a wooden beam before letting out a curse, face scrunching up in pain as her movements stretched the burns covering her back, pulling the tender pink skin taunt.</p><p>Zuko stepped forward, hands braced in front of him to steady her but she quickly slapped them away. She didn't need his help. She didn't <b>need </b>anyone's help. She was Honora of the firenation, a monster in her own right, and not just some weak <em>child </em>who cried when she got a booboo.</p><p>Her brother watched her for a few moments, watched as her face became blank and her eyes became dead as she pushed her pain away, standing tall once more and ignoring the fact she was human, and he knew the decision he was about to make was the right one. He wouldn't tell Honora of his plan, he didn't want to lose his sister, and having her safe on the ship with uncle was the only way that was about to happen. He would not allow Honora to die for him.</p><p>"...No, not yet. But I'm working on it."<br/>
________________________________________________</p><p>A few hours later, Honora's job was done. She idly wondered where Zuko was, he'd been awfully fidgety after his brief visitation, no doubt because anyone could of seen them without their masks, his paranoia of someone finding out they weren't dead almost amused her.</p><p>She stalked through the halls calmly, slouching her shoulders in on herself slightly to make her look smaller and less like...well, herself as she began her hunt for her brother and uncle, resisting the urge to physically push people away as she walked through some of the more crowded hallways, keen eyes looking over and over countless heads but coming up empty.</p><p>The fire-bender finally came towards the end of the ship, and thankfully her search came to an end as one of the people she'd been looking for quite literally, almost knocked her off her feet as they barrelled into her. Her uncle gasped, grabbing onto her forearms to pull her upright, and after noticing they golden eye peeking out from the helmet, quickly disguised his face from his previous sadness and worry.</p><p>But not fast enough.</p><p>"Uncle? Are you alright?" She asked softly, not hearing anything around them but not wanting to risk it as she looked over him for any signs of injury or physical distress, but unable to find any.</p><p>"Yes, my niece. Just nervous about the battle." He assured her, beginning to usher her away from the room he'd just came out of. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, looking over his shoulder to examine it more closely and quickly recognising it, it was one of the may exist posts around the large ship. Why would her uncle be in there? Unless...</p><p>"Where is he?" She snarled, tensing her muscles so her uncle could no longer push her and whipping her helmet off her head so he could see the danger in her eyes, to show him she had no time for his lies. If he had allowed her brother to do this alone, there would be hell to pay.</p><p>"Honora, I-" He grappled, struggling to come up with a lie so quickly, and in that time, Honora's eyes became <em>weaponized. </em>She reached forward, grabbing her uncle by the front of his robes and pushing him against the metal of the ship, her sparking fingers burning through to his skin as she threw him to the side and marched into the room, snarling in frustration where she found no one there.</p><p>Honora ran forward, sai shooting out of her arm as she stabbed the side of the ship and threw her body out, feet bracing in a crouch-like position and holding her weight onto her one arm, dark hair whipping through the cold air as she searched for a sign of Zuko through the dark waters, but there was none. It had always been harder to track things when water was involved.</p><p>Growling, she pushed herself back inside, pulling her sai with her roughly and began to search around the room for spare rope, ignoring her uncle who rushed inside the room anxiously, sighing in relief when he found her there and not overboard.</p><p>"Honora, you must understand. Your brother just didn't want you to be harmed." He tried to console her, watching her frantic movements as she tried to come up with a plan, her golden eyes darkening as she realised just how much was out of her control. Honora snarled, clenching her hand into a fist before punching <b>through </b>the metal wall, fire encasing her fist in a blue glow, causing Iroh to quickly take a step back. She was reverting back to her father's soldier.</p><p>"Why would you allow that? Do you wish him fail, is that it?" She snapped, spinning to face him and ignoring the blood dripping from her bruised knuckles and onto the floor, her golden eyes so bright they glowed like the sun.</p><p>"You know I do not! Ever since I lost Lu-ten I have seen that boy as a son to me. How dare you question my intentions." He growled back, stepping further into the room and shutting the heavy door behind him, leaving the room in silence.</p><p>"How dare I? How dare you! Do you wish for him to die just like Lu-ten did? Alone in a battle when <b>you </b>could of saved him!"</p><p>Iroh roared, his orange flame streaming out of him mouth in anguished anger, to which Honora simply clenched her fists, extinguishing the flames before they could reach her face and snarling. Her pale, bloodied fingers beginning to spark with bright blue currents awaiting his next move but making no intent to harm him. It was not the first time her family had turned against her.</p><p>He lunged forward, his face twisted, full of vengeful rage before stopping himself, reminding himself that this was his niece. His unstable, scarred and <em>powerful </em>niece who'd seen no problem in murdering her father, and he had no hope that he'd be any different. He closed his eyes tightly, lest the tears from his guilt be shown before he opened them, glaring at the tall girl in front of him, pain and mourning still clear on his weathered face.</p><p>"How can you be so <em>cruel?</em>"</p><p>"Why don't you look into a mirror to see your answer." She growled, turning her back to him, uncaring that she'd hurt him. It was his own fault, to love something so fragile and weak and useless. Human life.</p><p>"How can you say that? I have tried to steer you on the right path, I have cared for you, loved you like you were my own daughter!" He shouted, his voice breaking as he stared up at her, his anger clouding over his rational thought, however his words had the desired effect as she swung around to face him once more, her eyes wild and haunted as she scoffed lowly.</p><p>"<em>Please</em>, you look at me and I can see that look in your eyes, that fear, that <em>scorn</em>. <em>You look at me and you see Ozai staring back at you</em><em>!</em>"</p><p>"That is not true, Honora!" He yelled once more, hands clenching to try and stop the shaking. Was that how she truly seen him? Another one of her feared subjects?</p><p>"<em><b>You watched him turn me into a weapon and then you told me to find peace! </b></em><em>That</em> is the truth! I am a monster of all of your creation. And if we find my brother harmed you will find out just how much that reigns true!" She had started off screaming, but it had dulled down to a dangerous whisper, filled full on promise and threat as she stared him down.</p><p>Honora took a step forward, and Iroh flinched, his eyes growing cold as he crouched into a stance, awaiting for her retaliation. Instead she just continued walking forward, barely sparing him a glance so he couldn't see the hurt in her eyes as she called to him over her shoulder, walking out of the room and placing her mask over her marrred face once more.</p><p>"Don't worry, <em>uncle</em>. I am not my father...or <em>you</em>."<br/>
________________________________________________</p><p>They'd breached the wall. Homora could hear the sounds of battle from outside the ship, the catapults, the swoosh of the flames, the screams, the begs, the tanks, all of it. She could hear all of it. Inside her mask, her golden eyes clenched shut, face paler than usual and making the wounds stand out before opening once more, cold and unfeeling and <em>dead.</em> The way it should be. She had to be what she was, a soldier and nothing more, she couldn't allow herself to hesitate.</p><p>She second she was off this ship, she'd be on a countdown. Fnd Zuko and kill <b>whoever</b> got in her way.</p><p>In front of her, just in her eyeline, she could see Iroh, dressed in his red robes, obviously having changed after their...altercation, talking to Zhao, conversing in low tones as she stood back with the other soldiers, disguised but ready. Unfortunately, the closer she was to Zhao, the more she could focus on her goal.</p><p>A soldier suddenly appeared, bursting through the doors dramatically and, after showing pulling his mask away to showcase his nothern-tribe features, pointed his spear at Zhao, his cold blue eyes reckless. "Admiral Choi! Prepare to meet your fate!" He yelled, Honora didn't even try to stop him as he charged at Zhao, but the Admiral merely sidestepped and tossed the boy overboard. Iroh peered over the railing and shook his head in disappoint then looked at Zhao, where they begun to speak once more.</p><p>Honora couldn't find it within herself to pretend to care, instead gripping a spear in her calm grip and looking out into the waters below.</p><p>And sure enough, barely a few hours later she watched the battle first hand, resting a top of Zu, patting his neck gently when she heard his anxious huff, looking out in front of her as the Water Tribe members fled with cries of terror as a tank destroyed a totem pole. She could see as they looked up at the horizon where the numerous Fire Nation ships were nearly blocking the view of the rising full moon, the fear in their blue eyes striking.</p><p>As she watched as the Waterbenders began attacking the invading Fire Nation forcefully, the moon strengthening them as they began to try to take back their city, she couldn't help but admire them, they were powerful in their respective elements, but even that might not save them.</p>
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  <p>"We'll be following this map to a very special location." Zhao said with a smirk, completely unperturbed by the tank that had just flown past him, dousing the soldier in front of Honora is snow which brought her attention back over to the 'mission's as hand. "And when we get there, we're going fishing."</p>
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  <p>Honora narrowed her eyes, but dug her foot into Zu's side gently, following after Zhao. She just had to bide her time, that was all.<br/>
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</div><p>Zhao grinned vehemently as he stood in front of the pond at the back of the oasis that they had found through a secret passage, having left the komodo-rhino's outside, and after watching the two fish swim around each other peacefully, he smirked and grabbed the white koi fish, Tui, from the water and placed it in a sack, smirking as the moon turned red behind him. </p><p>Honora looked up sharply, the strange anomaly not making sense, until it clicked inside her head. Zhao's plan had never been to battle the water-tribe into submission, it was to completely <em>wipe</em><em> them out, and without the moon, they had become easy picking.</em> The fish in the bag and the one in the pond, weren't just fish, they were <em>spirits.</em> Underneath her helmet, her golden eyes narrowed and her fingers began to spark.</p><p>"I am…a legend, now!" Zhao shouted as he held the sack with Tui inside it, shaking it slightly as the blood red light bared down upon him, bathing him in an ominous glow, not seeing one of his soldiers stalk up behind him. "The Fire Nation will for generations tell stories about the great Zhao, who darkened the moon. They will call me, Zhao the Conqueror, Zhao the Moon Slayer, Zhao the Invincible!"</p><p>Zhao the idiot was interrupted from his speech of madness as the Avatar's strange flying lemur landed on his head, scratching against it and drawing blood as it battered its little hands against his face. "Ugh! Get it off, get it off!" He howled, and soon enough it did, gliding through the air and onto the arm of the Avatar, who glared up at him darkly, Sokka and Katara just behind him.</p><p>Zhao turned to glare at the Avatar and his friends as he and his men readied themselves for a fight, Honora paused for a moment, before doing the same, making sure she was right behind the admiral and just in front of the two soldiers on either side of her, she'd have to be quick if she wanted to move along.</p>
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  <p>"Don't bother." The fire-bender stated after looking at the group in front of him with a critical eye, before he realised their weakness and smirked, dark eyes cold as he held up the bag, his fist pointed at it, a threat if they took a step closer to try and stop his plan.</p>
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  <p>"Zhao, don't!" Aang protested as he and his friends surrendered almost instantly, each eyeing the bag in concern. "It's my destiny to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe." Zhao responded, sounding almost manic as his eyes glistened with darkness and insanity, the power of holding the literal moon in his hands going to his head. </p>
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  <p>"Destroying the moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe." Aang said as he looked at the sack where Tui was struggling faintly, feeling his young heart break before he then looked towards Zhao, hoping to see something, anything that told him he didn't have to do this. "It will hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of the balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world."</p>
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  <p>"He is right, Zhao." </p>
</div><p>A new voice joined the fray, causing Honora to tense as everyone looked to the side. Her golden eyes clenched shut in frustration, they had a <em>plan. </em>He was to find Zuko, while she was to distract the admiral. What happened to the stupid <em>plan?</em></p>
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  <p>"General Iroh," Zhao commented with an unsurprised look, looking over at the cloacked figure who stood at the side of the two. "Why am I not surprised by your treachery?"</p>
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  <p>"I'm not traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs to the moon, too We all depend on the balance." Iroh stated as he removed the hood of his cloak then shifted into a bending stance, his tone becoming dangerous, "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you ten-fold. Let it go now!"</p>
</div><p>But they could all see the look on Zhao's face, the scheming in his eyes as he pushed his fist closer to the wiggling bag, his lips lifting into a small smirk. The Avatar's grey eyes widened, shifting back into a stance as fire began to swirl around the Admiral's knuckles as he prepared himself to burn the spirit.</p><p>He didn't get the chance as his own soldier came up behind him, shoving their fingers into his back and letting lightning coarse across their fingertips and into his body as he screamed out, at first in shock before the tremendous sharp pain hit him, falling to the floor and convulsing as the pain hit his every muscle, every cell. The bag slipped out of his hand, but was quickly caught by the soldier as the others watched with wide but cautious eyes.</p><p>The lightning-bender took of their mask, and it was to the face of a bruised but never broken Honora staring down at Zhao. "I'm sorry Admiral, did I step on your moment?"</p><p>"Y-y-you're meant to be dead."</p><p>"Do I look like the kind of woman who dies?" She asked cruelly, before looking over at the Avatar and smirking, watching as his hands tensed around his staff, obviously about to try and give the same lecture as he had to Zhao but before he could even open his mouth, she flipped the bag over and Tui slipped back into the water, unharmed.</p><p>"Why would yo-?" Katara began to ask, bringing Honora's attention over to her, it having taken her moment to recognise the wounded figure as the dangerous princess but once she had, she wanted to ask the question on everyone's mind, only to be interrupted as Zhao used the Princess's distraction to <em>his advantage,</em> turning onto his side and shooting a blast of orange flame towards the pond, before he took off running.</p><p><b>The moon turned black as Tui died,</b> La circling around them in mourning. Katara collapsed to her knees, the other staring on in disbelief as they realised it was over, she head Yue running down the saddle and throwing herself down next to her but all she could focus on was how empty she felt, her bending was gone? Just like that, and the battle was over, with themselves the losers.</p><p>She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up into the kind eyes of Iroh as he joined them in their mourning. She frowned for a moment, looking over at Zhao's soldiers only to see them defeated and unmoving, and it took her a moment to realise Honora was missing too, meaning she'd been the one to take them down before she'd ran off.</p><p>Katara wondered when Honora protecting her had stopped being a strange suprise.<br/>
_________________________________________________</p><p>Zuko had ran after Zhao after escaping his bonds, not questioning why he had been saved, intent on confronting him, not only for the mans  hand in his 'death' but for everything else too. He didn't pretend to know about spirits, about the way the world worked, but he knew if uncle took something seriously, he should too. But, when he found Zhao, it wasn't the interaction he wanted.</p><p>The man was lying face down in the snow, the skin that had once been his face melting away is disgusting <em>flaps</em> and blisters, melting the fresh snow and straining the ice below it a dark red. Beside him, was a familar figure dressed in a soldiers uniform, watching the rest of the battle take place with cold eyes, not moving to help or anything of the sort.</p><p>Zuko had wanted to confront Zhao. <b>He didn't get the chance.</b><br/>
_________________________________________________</p><p>When the moon returned to the sky, once more bathing the world it its warm glow,  Honora quickly stalked past the dead admiral, grabbing hold of the back of her brothers robes and began to drag him behind her, ignoring his complaints and cutting him down with a sharp rebuttal of, "<b>don't.</b>" Instead focusing on finding Iroh and getting out of there.</p><p>She had tried to save the moon, but that didn't stop her from being their enemy. If they found them here, they'd be killed, and no matter how powerful she may be, she couldn't taken on an entire tribe. In the back of her mind, she hoped Zu was safe, that he was on one of the retreating ships going home, but she couldn't dwell upon him. No matter how much she wanted to.</p><p>"Honora, there's uncle!" Zuko pointed, Honora followed to where he'd gestured and sure enough, there he was, biting his fingers anxiously but heaving a visible sigh of relief when he caught sight of them. She opened her mouth to call out to him, before her ear twitched and she quickly threw Zuko to the side, a large icicle-like spear missing his head by centimetres.</p><p>She looked over her shoulder, just in time to see another one gunning for her, she moved, raising her arm at the same time and catching it with ease, before twirling it around to spank her brother with the flat end of it as he yelped. "Get a move on." The dark-haired girl growled, dropping the strange spear and running just behind her brother, jumping and turning once again mid-air to shoot lightning at their pursuers, smirking when her aim aimed true.</p><p>They caught up to uncle, who began running beside them, trying to get to the docs where they could steal a kayak, a spare piece of driftwood, anything! But the distance between them and the boats seemed monstrous, especially with how close the large group of water-tribers behind them were.</p><p>"We're not going to make it." Zuko observed, panting desperately for breath, and as much as Honora wanted to disagree, he was right. The men behind them would catch up to them long before they'd even reach three quarters of the way. But...but not if Honora could stop them first. She came to a stand still, golden eyes closing in frustration before she opened them, giving her brother a half-smirk as she looked over him. "Yes, you are."</p><p>"Honora, there's too many. We can't fight them all off." He snapped, trying to grab her arm fruitlessly but she quickly slapped his hands down, looking over her shoulder anxiously. They were getting too close, she had to be quick. The dark-haired girl reached forward, grabbing a hold of her brothers upper arms and brought him closer to her, pain-filled eyes filling with relief. "You're right. <em>We </em>can't."</p><p>"What do you mean, Honora?" Zuko asked, feeling a dark sense of foreboding as he stared up at his sister, looking over her shoulder and wincing. "You're going to be okay, Zu-zu. I promise you."</p><p>"...You're not coming with us, are you?"</p><p>"When you make it, so will I." She cupped his face in her hands, eyes stormy with determination, with resolute and he knew there was nothing he could do, nothing he could say, but there was never going to be the right amount of time for him to ever tell her just what she meant to him, he had too much to say to her. But she knew anyway, she cared for him too.</p><p>"Run, big brother." Honora told him, her eyes soft as she wiped a tear from his face. "We'll meet again, now go." She ordered, looking towards her uncle with dark eyes, he nodded once, grabbing Zuko by the arm who struggled and cursed, beginning to pull him towards the boats once more as she turned around to face the water-benders quickly coming to meet her.</p><p>"Whatever you do, don't look back." She called over her shoulder, still watching them out of the corner of her eye as they ran as fast as they could, Zuko being dragged behind slightly. Honora was okay with this, <em>she'd been okay with this since she was six.</em> There was only one way for her to repent for her sins, for the horrors she had committed and it was this, saving her brother, always saving her brother.</p><p>And so when the men in blue parkas met her in the middle, the spears and weapons of frozen ice pointed at her, did she finally allow the fire that consumed her veins to run free, letting out a piercing scream as the white fire exploded around her, raising her from the ground in a fiery embrace, knocking down the men and incinerating them to ashes, allowing her family to escape without the threat. <b>She was going to burn, sure. But first, first she was going to fly.</b><br/>
<b>________________________________________________</b></p><p>Honora didn't know how long she'd been lying in the snow, the ashes of the men who'd tried to harm her brother surrounding her, but she didn't care. Instead, she'd simply closed her eyes, feeling the cold air and wet snow wash over her, freezing her body and killing her slowly, the only sound being the clattering of her teeth and the howling wind.</p><p>Honora really didn't know how long she'd been dying there, but when her eyes opened, it was to familar eyes staring down at her in horror, as their glowing hands pressed into her wounds as they tried to pick her up, screaming for a wordless help over their shoulder, as they tried to keep her alive. "Blue-eyes." She mumbled, before her golden eyes finally rolled back into the back of her head as she fell into the darkness of her own unconscious.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>"I didn't wish to be saved."</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div>
  <p><b>D</b><em><b>uring one of </b></em><em><b>quiet nights of the palace life, a very rare time is which not even the animals and creatures of the outside would make a noise, a young Honora, barely on the cusp of reaching eleven, was awoken from her slumber to the sound of feminine grunts and curses coming from outside her bedroom. </b></em><em>And it only took her a moment to get her bearings from the </em><em>abrupt</em><em> wake up call to realise it was coming from her</em> <em>training</em><em> grounds, that were positioned just outside of her open widow. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>She'd paused, chewing on her bottom lip in thought, before figuring that if it </em>
    <b>
      <em>were </em>
    </b>
    <em>a threat outside, she'd be able to handle it</em>
    <em>. Zuko and Azula's rooms were close </em>
    <em>enough</em>
    <em> to hers that she'd be able to protect them if it were some sort of amateur assassin. And with that </em>
    <em>thought</em>
    <em> in mind, she'd tossed her dark red sheets from her bruised body, wincing slightly when a part of the frayed blanket caught the tender skin of the burn on her shoulder, before placing her pale feet on the cold </em>
    <em>marble</em>
    <em> of her floor. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Forgoing grabbing her shoes and instead grabbing her satin robe, she'd opened her door quietly, about to take a step before remembering an important detail, and sure enough when she'd looked down, it had been to a snoring one-year old Zu, who'd grumbled as she took a step over him, patting the top of his head gently as she'd walked past. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Honora had paused at Azula's room, opening the door gently to check in where her younger sister was sleeping peacefully and had smiled softly, affection </em>
    <em>making</em>
    <em> her golden eyes glow, before another muffled curse danced around her ears and she'd continued her way </em>
    <em>to</em>
    <em> the garden, </em>
    <em>shrouded</em>
    <em> under the darkness, her keen eyes and ears making out details others would not and when she finally reached the grounds, the image placed in front of her, was not the one she'd had in mind.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>To put in simply, there was a young girl, </em><em>probably</em><em> around the same age as Honora </em><em>herself</em><em>, who had wild hair with even wilder eyes punching the wooden block that she used for training. Well, </em><b><em>punching</em></b><em> seemed a strong word, considering the fact the strange girls</em> <em>stance</em><em> was so weak she ended up falling over onto the dusty floor, a curse slipping out of her pink lips </em><em>as</em> <em>she</em><em> stood back up again, dusting herself off with a scowl on her pretty face.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Honora had tilted her head, watching </em><em>the</em> <em>girl</em><em> for a few moments as she rested her right shoulder against the side of the wall, her dark brow quirked up and her golden eyes following the strangers every </em><em>move</em><em> with confusion and amusement. It was on the strange girl's second try at a spinning kick that she made her presence known.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"You're doing it wrong!" She'd called out softly, smirking as the brown-haired girl </em>
    <em>squealed</em>
    <em>, missing a step and tripping over her own to feet, sending her sprawling into the mud once more. </em>
    <em>The girl instantly shot up on unsteady feet, dark eyes wide and looked around the area, before she'd bent down, picked up a stick that was laying to the front of her and waved it threateningly through the air</em>
    <em>. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"I don't know who you are, but I'm armed and dangerous!" </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"Yes, I can see that." </em>
    <em>Honora rolled her eyes, and after a moment, stepped out of the dark shadows that concealed her, only for the strange girl to instantly squeal, panic and lunge for her, stick in hand and apparently trying to </em>
    <em>skewer</em>
    <em> the princess upon it. The golden-eyed girl twisted to the side, dancing out of the way and in the </em>
    <em>same</em>
    <em> breath, grabbed the thick stick out of her hands and broke it into two pieces with ease.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"Hey! That was my stick!" </em>
    <em>The girl yelled and then pouted with a over-dramatic huff, crossing her pale arms </em>
    <em>across</em>
    <em> her chest with a frown. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"A stick is no weapon." </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>"Oh yeah, like </em><em><b>you'd</b></em><em> know." </em><em>She'd muttered, </em><em>marching</em><em> over to Honora to rip the remnants of her 'weapon' out of the taller girls hands, looking at it </em><em>closely</em><em> but after seeing no way they could be salvaged, threw it behind her with another ridiculous pout. Honora blinked. </em><em>"Excuse me?"</em> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"You look like you've never had a fight in your life! You're too...</em>
    <em>scrawny</em>
    <em>." </em>
    <em>The stranger snapped, waving an idle hand towards the taller girl before looking around the grounds for another stick to practice with, unaware of Honora taking offence to the statement, looking herself up and down with a </em>
    <em>frown</em>
    <em>. </em>
    <b>
      <em>Scrawny? </em>
    </b>
    <span class="u">
      <em>Zuko was scrawny.</em>
    </span>
    <em> Honora was </em>
    <em>lithe.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"Y</em>
    <em>ou'd be suprised." </em>
    <em>The </em>
    <em>fire-bender</em>
    <em> had replied instead. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>"Oh yeah? I bet I could beat you with one arm tied behind my b-!" </em><em>The girl had turned around and went to prod Honora in her injured shoulder, the burns from her training still fresh and aching and the </em><em>young</em> <em>fire-bender</em><em> reacted </em><em>quickly</em><em>, grabbing the offending appendage with a tight grip, twisting herself around and </em><b><em>flinging</em></b> <em>the stranger over her body and onto the unforgiving floor below them with a loud 'oomph' as the wind was knocked out of their lungs. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>It was silent for a few moments, the two girls from very </em><em>different</em> <em>backgrounds</em> <em>staring</em><em> at each </em><em>other</em><em>, panting </em><em>slightly</em><em>, before, </em><em>"Whoah! How did you do that?"</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"You really have no idea who </em>
    <em>I</em>
    <em> am, do you?" </em>
    <em>Honora asked seriously, and then after a second chuckling to herself, finding the whole situation </em>
    <em>amusing</em>
    <em>, offering the brown-haired girl a hand and, after the girl had slipped her tanned hand into her pale one, hauling her up with ease, and without so much as a grunt as the weight strained her </em>
    <em>injuries. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"No, should I?" </em>
    <em>She said, dusting herself off and frowning as specs of dirt flew off of her clothes, she'd only just had them cleaned. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>I'd</em> <em>wager so, considering you're, rather pathetically I might add, training on</em> <em><b>my</b></em><em> grounds." </em><em>Honora told her, walking around the girl to lean on one of the </em><em>wooden</em><em> posts, resting her shoulder against it and </em><em>waiting</em><em> for the impending 'shoe to drop' with a certain kind of glee in her eyes. The stranger frowned, face </em><em>crunching</em><em> up in confusion as she turned to face Honora, asking </em><em>"Your grounds? How can they be your-" Before she paused, and remembered just exactly where she was. "oh, oh no."</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"</em>
    <em>
      <b>Oh yes</b>
    </em>
    <em>."</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"I am so sorry princess, I didn't realise." </em>
    <em>The girl squeaked, throwing </em>
    <em>herself</em>
    <em> back down on the dusty floor to kneel down to her, bowing her head in shame with tears filling her dark eyes. She might lose her job before she could </em>
    <em>even</em>
    <em> start it, or even worse, her life, she's thought to herself, horrified. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"I'd hope not. Why are you here?" </em>
    <em>Honora asked calmly, voice and face not </em>
    <em>portraying</em>
    <em> how she felt as she stood up from her relaxed stance, arms folded behind her </em>
    <em>back</em>
    <em> as she stalked over to her, circling her like a predator does to their prey, golden eyes alight with </em>
    <em>something</em>
    <em> she </em>
    <em>rarely</em>
    <em> felt at the strangers fear. </em>
    <em>
      <b>Enjoyment</b>
    </em>
    <em>. Perhaps she truly was her father's daughter. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"I work here, your highness. I'm one of the firelords </em>
    <em>servants</em>
    <em>." </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"I see." </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"Please don't fire me. Or </em>
    <em>
      <b>shoot</b>
    </em>
    <em> fire at me." </em>
    <em>The brown-haired </em>
    <em>girl</em>
    <em> begged, looking up to the cold eyes of the princess as she </em>
    <em>stared</em>
    <em> down at her, face indifferent and uncaring. Spirits how could she be so stupid? She bowed her head once again, waiting for an inevitable </em>
    <em>punishment</em>
    <em>. She knew that servants here weren't treated fairly, the bruises and burns told her as much. But she'd hoped she wouldn't of been on the receiving end of it. Dark eyes clenched shut, as her body tensed. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"I'll think about it. Run along." </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><em><b>What?</b></em> <em>"O-of course, Princess Honora. I'm so sorry once again."</em><em> Not one to look a gift </em><em>horse</em><em> in the mouth, the </em><em>girl</em><em> stood up quickly, moving </em><em>to</em><em> gather her things up from the floor with shaking hands, frantic and whimpered breaths leaving her parted lips as she tried desperately to avoid looking at the dangerous princess, the one she had been warned about. The child soldier, </em><em>princess</em> <em>Honora.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>"Wait." </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>The servant </em><em>paused from where she was</em> <em>scrambling</em><em> towards the exit, face turning pale as </em><em>she</em><em> kept her back to the fire-bender behind her, trying to </em><em>decide</em><em> if that was the best idea, being vulnerable but also not wanting to see her impending death as she waited </em><em>for</em><em> the princess to say anything else. "</em><em>What's your name</em>?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p><em><b>"Karai, princess. My name is Karai."</b></em><br/>
<em>________________________________________________</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Golden eyes fluttered open, long lashes brushing against her own pale frostbitten cheeks as Honora awoke, wincing in pain as her body and seemingly, her very bones <em>ached</em>, feeling as though it was getting burned from the inside out. She huffed a breath through her dark pink nose, unwrapping her arm from an cocoon of dark furs to try and shrug them off sluggishly, grunting as she did so, only for gentle hands to stop her frantic fumbling. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She looked up weakly, a vicious snarl on her face before recognising the flushed face of Katara, as the water-bender pushed her arm back inside the furs, her cheeks stained a dark red as she looked at everything other than the princess, who, she wasn't going to tell, had too have been stripped naked by one of the elder and more experienced healers. It was the only way to stop her from getting hypothermia.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"S'hot."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The Fire-benders voice was low and rough as usual, but holding a certain sluggish rasp to it as her head lolled against the pillow under her head as she tried to push her body into a sitting position, only for Katara to quickly push her down again, letting out a quiet 'eep' when the furs slipped and the water-bender caught a small glimpse of Honora's pale but scarred bare shoulder as she hurriedly pulled them up once more, and when she was sure they weren't going to slip, she sighed in relief.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Actually, you're freezing. Your body is just tricking you into believing you're hot." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I know m'body, blue-eyes." Honora snapped, frustrated at her own lack of cooperation, feeling weak and helpless and most of all, <b>furious</b>. She didn't know why she'd been saved from her obvious demise, but she could only assume it was for nothing <em>good</em>. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The flaps stationed at the front of the igloo opened suddenly, breaking through the tension as it bathed the space in a light and pretty blue glow until it sent a cold gust of air inside, and then a figure dressed in yellow and orange robes strolled in, their arms full and a beaming smile curling on their face, grey eyes large and gentle. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, Katara. I've got some more furs- oh, you're awake!" The Avatar said brightly, speeding over to gently lay more of the blankets over her as she grunted.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"...m' I dead?" Honora murmured, eyebrows furrowed before a sharp pain struck through her head causing her to relax her features quickly, a small groan slipping through her chapped lips. The Avatar grinned, while blue-eyes moved to the side, grabbing an empty cup and filling it with water, looking over her shoulder to make sure the fire-bender wasn't going to attack them while her back was turned. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Nope! You're very much alive! Katara had worked all through the night to save you!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're lucky we found you when we did, <em>well</em>, you're lucky Appa found you. The healers said if you were out there any longer you would of froze to death." Katara told her, walking back over and going to pour the drink into her mouth gently, but the princess reached up and took it herself, narrowing her eyes in distrust. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Shame." Was all she said before downing it, not even sniffing to check it was poisoned as she gulped it down uncaringly. She finished it quickly, and then slowly began to sit up, snapping and baring her teeth when the two benders tried to help her as her battered body ached in pain, her elbows coming out from the furs to support her, and it was only then that she froze.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Why am I naked?" She asked calmly, but a hidden anger hiding underneath her tongue as she pushed her arms further into the shadows, hoping they'd conceal the vicious scars encasing them grotesquely and suddenly hyper aware of the rough furs brushing against her sensitive and scarred body below them. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara and Aang exchanged looks, the Avatar rubbing the back of his bald head and neck anxiously, face blooming pink as the water-bender cleared her throat. "We...well, a healer had to get you out of your clothes, because they were soaking you to the bone and freezing over. Taking them off gave your body the chance to warm itself back up." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Why am I not dead?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, I healed y-"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No. I mean, why haven't you or the water-tribe killed me. You had the perfect chance to leave me for dead or finish the job." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Because I asked them not to." The Avatar said, stepping forward, bringing her attention away from the confused looking Katara and over to the young boy as he folding his hands in front of him and looking far wiser beyond his years than he should be as he stared at her carefully, grey eyes meeting unnatural gold, and whatever he saw reflecting in their haunting glow, made him give the older girl a gentle half-smile. "Everyone deserves to be saved."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Something tells me they don't see it like that."<br/>
_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And sure enough barely a day later, the dangerous princess was forced down roughly onto her knees by two forceful hands upon her pale shoulders, arms locked tight behind her with heavy metal chains that bit into the fragile skin of her wrist. Sitting in front of her was the chief, glaring down upon her from his platform of ice, to the right side of him, old and powerful looking men doing the same, however to the left of him, sat the Avatar and his friends, their expressions unreadable. All around her, there were weapons trained on her, spears pointed threateningly, others with their hands poised over their water-skins. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora kept her head lowered, her dark hair hanging over her face as her golden eyes flickered from left to right slowly, completely and sinfully at <em>ease</em>. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The frightful Princess of the Firenation. Here before us in <em>chains. </em>I neglect to see how <em>you </em>could be so...feared." A man with his mid-length white hair pulled behind him scoffed, his upper lip curling in disgust as he stared at her. The reason he'd lost so many of his students. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Your water-benders made the same mistake. Such a shame it was their <b>last</b>." She finally looked up to purr, snapping her teeth at him mockingly, going straight for the jugular as she watched the pain surface in his cold blue eyes as he stood up in outrage, the ice cracking scornfully underneath his feet. She cackled loudly when the chief placed his arm out in front of the man, calming him slightly. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Pakku, enough, do not give her what she wants." The man named Pakku sat down, his shaking hands clenching and unclencing over his knees, glaring at the girl with the heat of a thousand suns. Honora sent him a cool wink, unbothered and confident. </p>
</div><p>"You slaughtered my men. Members of my tribe, my people, my <em>friends</em>. You helped to infiltrate our walls and brought your fiery destruction with you. You. Princess Honora of the firenation are the daughter of a tyrant, a monster, and looking at you know, I can see just how much that reigns true." He took a deep breath, visible through the cold air before looking down at her.</p><p>Honora simply blinked back at him, her eyes cold and empty and <b>dead.</b></p><p>"Myself and other members of the tribe, think that you should be made an example of. Executed for you and your fathers crimes-" all around her, there were cheers. "-but the Avatar disagrees." The cheers slowed to a stop and the silence that took its place was so quiet, Honora could hear her own heart, beating steady inside her chest. <em>Duh-dum, duh-dun, duh-dum.</em></p><p>"And I have promised the Avatar that we'd abide to his wishes." The chief's eyes closed, whether in frustration or acceptance, no one knew as whispers and outrage sparked among the tribes, turning to each other in shock or resigned resentment. The chief lifted a single hand, and the noises stopped once again.</p><p>"My daughter trusted the Avatars judgement, just as I will...that is why the fire-bender will be going with the Avatar and our sister-tribe to the earth-kingdom. Where she'll be locked in a cell for the rest of her days!" For the final time that night, the water-tribe yelled out their acceptance of the girls fate, as Pakku stood tall, his hands folding underneath his long robes.</p><p>"The earth-kingdom will not be so lenient with you, fire-bender. We'll see how long that treacherous tongue lasts with them." He smiled cruelly, cold eyes bright as she was roughly grabbed once more by cold hands, steam rising in the thin air. "Whatever nightmares the future holds, are <b>dreams</b> compared to what's behind me. I fear no wrath from the likes of you."<br/>
_________________________________________________</p><p>And hours later, there she was sat, back to a freezing wall of ice that seeped into her very bones, biting and cold and <em>numbing. </em>Her bod encased in thick, metal chains, wrapped taunt around her wrists and legs, linked to a heavy and burdened metal piece that was wrapped around her neck. She could hardly breathe, the metal nipping at her skin, causing sharp wells of blood to appear, but she didn't so do much as flinch.</p><p>Instead she stared out in the darkness of her cell, focusing on the heat inside her core and sighing out breaths of fire every so often.</p><p>Suddenly, she heard footsteps tapping against the ice as someone walked into the fortress like prison, and it only took Honora a few moments to identify them as Katara stepped out of the shadows, holding a torch in her hand to help her see, finding the fire-bender already looking up at her in disinterest. "Blue-eyes." She greeted, voice raspy as she leant her head against the wall.</p><p>"Why did you do that?"</p><p>"You'll have to be more specific." Honora murmed dryly, not sparing the girl a glance as she stared up above her duly. Katara scowled at the girls blatant lack of respect. "Why would you say those awful things to Pakku! You killed his students and then taunted him about it!"</p><p>"What kind of monster would do that?" But there was no answer, instead the fire-bender just continued to stare up at her with those infuriating golden eyes.Katara sighed, blue eyes hard and unforgiving like the ice below their feet, her features twisted up into a confused like scowl as she took a deep, shaky breath out through her nose.</p><p>"I <em>know</em> that you're not the monster you try so hard to make yourself to be. You <em>let </em>me go, you offered to help me with my bending, you've saved my life and you even tried to save the moon spirit! Why would you do even half of these things if you were evil? And you know what else? I don't think I've ever seen you try to capture Aang. You've <b>never </b>made an effort too, you just sit back and watch and that's it. So why?"</p><p>Silence once again, only this time Honora didn't even grant the girl the pleasure of looking at her as she turned her face to the other side of her cell, dark hair cascading over her face and blocking their interaction. Katara paused and looked at the taller girl, <em>really</em> looked at her, scarred and vicious and <b>broken</b>.</p><p>"...You wanted them to hurt you, didn't you? Thats why you kept taunting them. Mocking them. Why? Because you think you deserve it? Or because you're used to it? Pain?"</p><p>Deafening silence was once again her answer, and she stubbornly clenched her jaw, before asking one more question, one that had weighed heavy on her mind ever since it had left the Princess's cruel and beautiful red-painted lips. "That night, the night where you saved me from the pirates. What did you mean by what you said? About ending the fire-lord reign?"</p><p>She waited for a minute...and then another minute, but no responce came, and she breathed out some kind of sigh through her nose, before Katara turned her back and began to walk away, until a familiar raspy voice broke through the silence like a sharp whip through the air.</p><p>"I didn't want to be like this, you know."</p><p>Katara paused, keeping her back to the fire-bender as continuing to stare out into the darkness in front of her, blue-eyes blown wide at the taller girls quiet confession.</p><p>"This, this <em>hideous</em> creature of scarred and broken flesh, of vengeful anger and dark hellfire that clings to me like <b>death</b>. I never wanted to be this monster, this destruction made human...<em>but</em> this prison of skin is the only thing he ever gave me, so I'm going to fill every crevice, every inch, and I will wear it until he regrets creating it." Honora stated ominously, golden eyes glowing in the darkness, haunting and terrifying and beautiful.</p><p>"My father made me into a creature to be feared. <b><em><span class="u">And fear me he will." </span></em></b></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div>
  <p><b>Grueling days passed, each one more insufferable than the last, the freezing winds and ice sticking to her skin, the taunting jeers, the sharp spears struck into her cage of metal, like poking a platupus-bear, and then, during the nights, the dark and</b> <b>haunting</b><b> silence of her own memories playing inside her head. </b>And yet, none of that even made Honora so much as <em>blink. </em>In fact, all the fire-bender did was stare, unseeing, to the wall in front of her, not moving, not eating, not sleeping, hardly even <em>breathing. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Well, in her defence she did find it rather hard to eat anything with a muzzle wrapped around her jaw, mainly due to the fact that because she had no access to her arms or legs or really, the rest of her body, she'd resorted to spitting fire when she became bored, apparantly that could be taken as somewhat as a threat. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>So, it was quite a suprise when two water-benders came into her cage of desolation, grabbing her roughly by her chained arms and lead her across their icy fortress that was slowly falling under the shadow of night, dragging her on her knees and not allowing the girl a chance to gain her footing, starvation and dehydration making her body weak, but the rest of herself still in tact as her eyes flickered from space to space, unbothered by the harsh treatment, calm and collected and <em>ready </em>for whatever wrath they had for her. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Yet, instead, she was thrown onto a ship, the men grabbing the tall girl by her forearms and physically lifting her as they walked across the deck and went down below, shielding them in darkness before stuffing her into another, slightly smaller case, throwing a fur over the thing and then leaving her there. Honora resisted rolling her eyes, lest she permanently lose them inside her brain and instead focused on her ears, listening the the gentle waves splashing against the ship as they were pushed to the sea. She closed her eyes, focusing harder and finally made out familar voices, it seemed the Avatar wasn't happy with her treatment.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>What a strange little boy he was. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>However, by the time night <em>truly </em>fell, in which the occupants on the ship were heading to their beds, or whatever else they were sleeping on, she head hesitant footsteps walking over to her cage, light and gentle, before a loaf of bread was tucked under the cage, squashing itself through the bars and plopping down onto her lap. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sorry there's not more. It was really hard to keep it hidden from momo!" The Avatar whispered, and then the same light footsteps walked away from her, climbing up the ladder to his own room no doubt. Honora quirked a brow, then looked down with some difficulty towards it. Something told her the Avatar hadn't actually <em>seen her</em>, or better yet the muzzle entrapping her jaw, rendering the bread useless. Truly, what a strange boy the Avatar was.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She didn't sleep that night either, listening the the occasional creaks of the wooden boat, the snoring from the water-bender doing a terrible job of guarding her, golden eyes sluggish but alert as she stared at the dark sheets obscuring her vision by hanging over the cage, her defined jaw tensing every so often as she grinded her teeth together. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora didn't know how long she'd been sitting there, head jerking up and down as she fought off the cruel caresses of sleep tempting her exhausted mind, but when the sound of movement from the upper deck circled over her ears, as well as voices and footsteps, and the blood inside her veins pulsed with a certain energy that hadn't been there before, did she realise that the morning had come. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The sheet was suddenly ripped away, the harsh sunlight striking her unprepared eyes, causing her the blink quickly, trying to adjust, as the door of her temporary prison was open, and her chained arm was grabbed once more as she was pulled out of the cage roughly, hitting the floor with a roll of her eyes. The water-triber wrapping his dark hand around the collar around her neck, and began to yank her up a ladder, ignoring her grunts as her threw her onto the deck. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You <em>muzzled</em> her?" A voice snapped in shock, alerting the princess that she wasn't alone, she rolled up onto her knees, hissing with effort and with black spots concealing her vision as she looked up into the grey eyes of the Avatar and his friends, even his hairy bison groaning near the back of the ship, staring down at her with wide-eyes. Honora couldn't say she was suprised, something told her she didn't look as regal and threatening as she'd like.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"A precaution, avatar. That's all." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How long has it been on there?" Katara asked with a frown, crossing her arms over her chest as she stepped forward, and then resting her hand on Aang's shoulder in comfort as she tried to avoid looking at the dangerous fire-bender kneeling on the floor, her pale face still bruised unpleasantly and body looking strangely...<em>frail</em> for lack of better word. There was something truly wrong about seeing the taller girl at a weakness. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"A few days."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>A few</em> <em>days</em>? How has she been eating? Drinking?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Their awkward silence answered him, as the few members of the water tribe shifted around nervously, exchanging looks with each other and shuffling their feet against the dark floors. Not a single one of them looking up to make eye contact with the small but powerful boy in front of them. The quiet spoke volumes, the answer to his simple question was that <b><em>she hadn't been.</em></b></p>
</div><div>
  <p>However, before the Avatar could continue on with his argument, Pakku walked out from the top of the deck with a small sack in his weathered hand, walking out from behind Appa to give the gang a pleasant look, smiling at them gently and apparantly unaware of the tense atmosphere surrounding the air, not even sparing the fire-bender a glance lest he do something he <em>knows</em> he wouldn't regret. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Are you all ready for your journey?" He asked, looking at the three teens with soft looks, Katara opened her mouth, her face still twisted into a slight scowl only for Sokka to dig his elbow into her ribs causing her to grunt, he knew a losing battle when he saw one. "Yup! All ready to go, Pakku!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, before you leave, I want to give you something." Pakku said, moving to stand in front of them as he reached into the small sack, and then pulled out a strange looking tiny flask with crescent moon stopper attached to string, holding it out as he ushered his fellow water-bender forward. "Katara, I want you to have this. This amulet contains water from the Spirit Oasis." He told her, handing the young girl the amulet as gently as he could. "The water has unique properties. <em>Don't</em> lose it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora rolled her eyes, moving her legs underneath her to try and stand up, only to bring the attention back over to her as her legs gave out, collapsing back onto the floor with a vicious snarl, golden eyes alright with frustration. The older man watched her emotionlessly for a few moments, a cruel glint in his eye as her guard went to grab her shoulder, only for her to twist out from under his grip and breath burning hot smoke into his face as he yelped and she grinned, as more guards surrounded her and subdued her quickly. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And perhaps a word of advice, Katara. Do <em>not </em>let your guard down around that <em>girl</em>. She's more dangerous than you know. The second you get to the Earth-kingdom, hand her over, and then no one will ever have to face her dangerous fire <em>ever</em> again." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thank you, Master Pakku." She replied replied gratefully after a pause of silence, accepting the amulet and hugging the older man, however, over his shoulder, the smile on her face dropped into a frown, before it cleared away and she then climbed into Appa's saddle, watching as said fire-bender was dragged up and pulled onto the bison with her, a sack pulling over her head and chains tightened over her body as she swayed dizzily. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara looked away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aang." Pakku then addressed the young avatar after making sure their prisoner didn't make a move to attack, as he pulled out a small box filled with waterbending scrolls and handed it over to the boy with a gentle and knowing smile. "These scrolls will help you master waterbending. But remember, they're no substitute for a real master."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The conversation continued over to Sokka, but Honora had long since stopped paying attention, instead focusing on the metal around her arms and wondering if the damage she'd sustain burning herself out of them would be worth it. What's a few more scars on an already broken body? The tall girl shifted her hands slightly, teeth grinding underneath the sack as her think restraints bit into her skin and felt more frustration swell inside her. If she even tried to burn through them, there was a good chance she'd lose her hands. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora didn't care about dying. She'd long since accepted her fate, but she didn't want to go without doing what she'd been thinking about, <em>dreaming</em> about, for the last six years. She wanted Ozai <em>dead</em> and for now, she just had to bide her time until she could get what she wanted. And she would, she knew she would. Her fire would have Ozai's blood if it were the last thing she'd ever do. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The conversation on the deck lured to a stop, as the final members of the gang hoped aboard the bison, keeping a wide berth away from the dangerous fire-bender, but still sitting close enough to restrain her if she tried anything to throw herself off the side or attack them. Honora rolled her eyes, as if they <em>could. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here." Pakku stated as he pointed eastward, staring daggers at the dark-haired girl who's back was turned towards him. "General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There, you will be safe to begin your Earthbending training with King Bumi. And remember, <em>watch your backs.</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aang, sitting in his usual place atop the bisons head, nodded, a small, exited smile on his face as he then snapped Appa's reins after making sure everyone and everything were sitting abroad, lingering slightly on Honora, before shouting, "Appa, yip-yip!" Causing the sky bison to leap up into the air with a grumble and groan, Katara quickly popped her head over the saddle to wave a goodbye to Pakku.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Say 'hi' to Gran-Gran for me!" The blue-eyed girl yelled with a grin just as Appa began flying in the direction of the Earth Kingdom base. They were barely in the air for a few minutes, before Katara made a move towards Honora, snatching off the rag concealing her with a scowl and ignoring her brother as he choked on his own spit.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What are you doing?" He hissed, shuffling closer to slap his sisters hands away and pull her away from their smug looking enemy, who smirked at him in responce, leaning her back against the side of the saddle seemingly without a care in the world. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm taking that stupid muzzle off, she needs to eat something before she passes out." Katara snapped back, giving her brother a strange look as she moved forward once again, hand stretching over to touch the muzzle snapping the taller girls jaw who simply watched with impassive golden eyes, not making a single movement. Sokka squeaked and grabbed her arm in a gentle grip, pulling it away with wide eyes and wondering if he was the only one here with any braincells left. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Katara! <em>Don't</em>! That thing in on there for a <em>reason</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm not going to treat her like an animal, Sokka!" She yelled, finally bringing Aang's attention over to them, as he looked over his shoulder in concern, watching the siblings argue and pulled a face, opening his mouth to weigh his input in but quickly thinking better of it when he caught the dangerous look in both of their eyes. Yeah, that was something he wanted <em>no </em>part it, even if he did agree with Katara. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"She's <b>dangerous</b>!" Sokka shouted back, face turning a dark red and resisting the urge to grab his sister and shake her by the shoulders, all the while Honora watched the siblings with bored golden eyes, trying to ignore the strange pangs in her chest that reminded her of how alone she <em>truly </em>was now, without <em>her </em>elder brother by her side. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"She's <em>tied</em> up! I'm taking it off. When I was on the ship, I hardly felt like a prisoner, I was allowed to walk around, I wasn't tied, or <em>muzzled</em>, I was even given my own bedroom!" Katara explained as calmly as she was able to, a vein throbbing in her forehead and face flushing as she tried to take calming breaths, glaring at Sokka with blue eyes glowing like liquid fire. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No offence Katara, but you weren't exactly seen as a threat. <em><b>She is!</b></em>" He pointed towards her, as if she were some great looking monster sitting there, tied up and muzzled like some sort of <em>dog</em>. Honora quirked a brow when he meet her golden gaze, as if to say <em>'really?'. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara finally shoved his hands from her shoulders, scowling over towards him darkly, and then quickly moved forwards, not giving him time to try and stop her once more, but doing the move so fast and clumsily that she was practically sitting <em>atop</em> the dangerous fire-bender, who, upon catching Sokka's wide eyes, smirked smugly, until she felt the water-benders gentle hand skimming over the sharp curve of her jaw, bringing her attention over to blue-eyes, as she looked at the girls pretty features. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara didn't seem to see the look she was getting, too busy muttering to herself as her fingers fumbled over the strange knots, trying to pull it off but her efforts being in vain as they remained firmly planted on, before her eyes narrowed, pulling her water skin to the side and bending the water from it, to hold in front of the Princess's face to make sure she could see it. "Try and stay still, I'm going to cut through it, okay?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora didn't give any outward reaction, no nod of her head or anything of the sort, but there was a hint of acceptance in her eyes that Katara trusted. Well, trusted was a strong word. She pulled her hand back, and, after a moment's hesitation, sliced it down, and sure enough, the blood-stained muzzle slipped off of Honora's pale and bruised face, getting lost into the winds of the sky as if flew off behind them without a backwards glance. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The Princess stayed still for a minute or two, ignoring the black spots taunting her vision, not even having flinched or really, moved at all, before suddenly snapping her teeth together threateningly, and Katara barely had time to squeal as ahead was snatched out of her lap and thrown further back onto the saddle by her overprotective brother, who'd already lunged forward, boomerang in hand and holding it under Honora's smirking face.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sokka! What are you doing?!" Katara gasped, heart still thundering inside her ribcage from the abruptness and the shock of it all, worried that if it continued to hammer on inside her chest like that, it was eventually going to simply <em>burst </em>out from her skin. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"She was going to spit fire at you!" The boy shouted, voice cracking half way through the sentence as he stared down the fire-bender dangerously, not turning back around to look at his sister although he was <em>dying </em>to scream that he'd told her so. What? The princess had a couple of conversations with her and now Katara thinks they're besties? Sometimes he wondered how his sister could be so naive. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No she wasn't!" The water-bender rolled her eyes, going to move closer once again only for the Avatar to grab her shoulder, halting her in her tracks as he looked at the situation at hand with anxious eyes, his head jerking back and forth. He didn't exactly know what had just happened, or who was right and who was wrong, but if their 'prisoner' was being a threat, they all had to be prepared to knock her out. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How do you know?" Aang asked softly, trying to keep the peace as best he could, curling his fingers over her shoulder comfortingly. Sokka opened his mouth, probably to reply with something insulting, only for a sudden silence to suffocate the air as Honora's rough, raspy and <em>unmistakable</em> voice answered the directed question with a tone of absolute smugness. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Because she's seen me do it before...to save her life."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What?" Sokka snapped in a mixture of shock and confusion, turning his head to look at his sister who squirmed under the attention. Well, it seemed that the young girl hadn't been completely honest about her time abroad the ship and Zhao's disgusting behaviour. Honora idly wondered if she'd even told them that <em>she</em> was the reason the water-bender was able to escape. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>However, Honora didn't get to see <em>much </em>of how that conversation went, or how much they knew, because the days of exhaustion, starvation and dehydration caught up to her burning hot body that had begun to overheat, her own fire practically eating her from the inside out due to its lack of use. And, with a half-assed snarl, her golden eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped backwards <em>over </em>the saddle, falling through the air and into her own unconsciousness.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The last thing she was able to see, was Katara's horrified face...and the Avatar's determined one.<br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>
  <em>The air felt cool, swarming around her prone form as she'd sat still, back straight and legs crossed over each other, completely at ease and at peace, the only sign of movement coming from her chest as it </em>
  <em>expanded</em>
  <em> softly with every gentle breath, the light wind from the open </em>
  <em>window</em>
  <em> cascading through the dark strands of hair that fell away from her top-knot, tickling over her pale cheeks, but not to the point of distraction or </em>
  <em>agitation</em>
  <em>. Until she sighed, exasperated, quirking a dark brow up while keeping her golden eyes closed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You're the one who </em>
  <em>asked</em>
  <em> me to teach you to meditate, love. Stop pulling </em>
  <em>faces</em>
  <em> at me and get to it." </em>
</p><p><em>An older, but still somewhat wild looking Karai slipped her tongue back into her </em><em>mouth</em> <em>sheepishly</em><em> after a few moments of blinking at the girl wide-eyed, cheeks stained a dark </em><em>pink</em><em> as </em><em>she</em><em> sat back down against the bed with an 'oomph', staring at the princess in curiosity, tilting her head to the side with a grin. "Oh, come on! How did you even see that?" </em></p><p>
  <em>"Meditate and you'll find out." </em>
  <em>Honora replied, a smirk curling over her lips, </em>
  <em>hearing</em>
  <em> the other girl opposite her moan </em>
  <em>dramatically</em>
  <em>, moving around to get comfortable, at least, </em>
  <em>that's</em>
  <em> what she'd assumed with the way the bed shook and creaked underneath her. "This is so boring! All you're doing is sitting there. Breathing." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Do you want me to stop breathing?" She </em>
  <em>asked</em>
  <em> indignantly, finally opening her golden eyes to look at Karai's deadpan look with amusement, finally </em>
  <em>relaxing</em>
  <em> from her meditating position and leaning back onto the bed with her hands holding her weight behind her </em>
  <em>idly</em>
  <em>, a </em>
  <em>dark</em>
  <em> strand of hair falling over her eyes, but Honora didn't get time to even try and blow it away before a tan hand obscured her vision, pushing the rebellious lock behind her ear </em>
  <em>gently</em>
  <em>. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I </em>
  <em>never</em>
  <em> want you to stop breathing." Karai said honestly, gentle voice barely a whisper as </em>
  <em>she</em>
  <em> stared at the princess </em>
  <em>admiringly</em>
  <em>, sitting so close that their noses brushed together. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I'd hope not." Honora mumbled, leaning in just a little closer and closer by the second, until their lips were a mere hair breadth away from each other, her cool breath brushing over the girl lightly, watching as Karai's </em>
  <em>eyes</em>
  <em> fluttered shut, awaiting her kiss, and it was at that moment that Honora struck, quickly changing course so her lips where now next to the girls ear. "Who else would teach you to meditate?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Ugh!" Karai whined, pulling herself away with a pout, her plans of seduction ruined as Honora laughed </em>
  <em>loudly</em>
  <em>, cheeks beautifully flushing pink in her mirth, a very rare sight indeed. "I asked you to help me do that weird sensing thing you do, not how to fall asleep sitting up." </em>
</p><p><em>"And </em><em>I</em><em> told you, the key to that was meditating."</em> <em>The fire-bender</em> <em>told her, rolling her eyes </em><em>before</em><em> getting back into her previous position, hands hovering over her lap with her pale knuckles pressed together, once again </em><em>shutting</em><em> her eyes and relaxing her </em><em>features</em><em>, though, there was still an, unfortunate, hint of a smile on her face, becoming more pronounced when she heard the girl huff. </em><em>"That doesn't </em><em>even</em><em> make </em><em>any</em><em> sense!"</em></p><p>
  <em>"It would if you were </em>
  <em>smarter</em>
  <em>." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Meanie." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was quiet </em>
  <em>then</em>
  <em>, hardly a sound other than their own breathing, and the </em>
  <em>gentle</em>
  <em> whistle of the wind blowing outside. There was the occasional voices from servants gossiping around the courtyard, a call of an animal, things that just made up the noises </em>
  <em>from</em>
  <em> every day life, so perhaps not the complete silence she was used too, but she supposed there was something </em>
  <em>peaceful</em>
  <em> with being aware of the outside world too. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Honora had assumed that Karai had eventually grew </em>
  <em>tired</em>
  <em> of her own complaining, and was, hopefully, listening to her advice and trying to do what she did, but when a weight suddenly dropped into her lap, knocking </em>
  <em>the</em>
  <em> wind right out of her body with a 'oomph', did she realise just </em>
  <em>how</em>
  <em> wrong she </em>
  <em>was</em>
  <em>. Karai leaned her back against the </em>
  <em>taller</em>
  <em> girl chest, slumping into her stubbornly, head tucked under her chin and the top of her brown hair tickling Honora's nose as she grabbed the Princess's hands and began to play with her fingers. "Comfortable, love?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Very." </em>
  <em>The non-bender </em>
  <em>replied</em>
  <em>, </em>
  <em>sighing</em>
  <em> in contentment as she snuggled deeper into the warm embrace, grinning when Honora didn't kick her off, and instead shifted her body so the girl was more comfortable lying on her lithe frame as she continued, in vain to try and continue meditating, though at this point it was more out if stubbornness than anything </em>
  <em>else</em>
  <em>. </em>
  <em>"And is this your plan then? To sit on my lap while </em>
  <em>I</em>
  <em> meditate for the rest of your life?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Spirits no. I'll be cutting the meditation right out of our lives if you don't mind." </em>
  <em>Karai scoffed, rolling her eyes with a huff as a shiver crept up her </em>
  <em>spine</em>
  <em>. There was no way in hell she was being forced do that an hour a day, she'd rather chew her own foot off. </em>
  <em>"Oh? Is that right?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Mhm. I've got it all figured out.</em>
  <em> W</em>
  <em>e'll wait for a few more years, just biding out time and when the fire-lord least </em>
  <em>expects</em>
  <em> it, we make our escape to the wilderness." </em>
</p><p><em>"Aha, </em><em>I</em><em> see, will we be taking anything with us?" </em><em>Honora </em><em>asked</em><em>, humouring the girl sitting atop of her, telling her all of these tale tales while she listened on in amusement, finally giving into temptation as she wrapped her muscled arm around her waist </em><em>and</em> <em>brought</em><em> her closer still, tucking her pale chin </em><em>into</em><em> the crook of her tanned </em><em>neck</em><em> with a sigh. </em></p><p>
  <em>Karai continued on as if she hadn't been interrupted in the first place, </em>
  <em>losing</em>
  <em> herself into her imagination and plans for the future that she had in mind for </em>
  <em>herself</em>
  <em> and the princess as she gestured </em>
  <em>wildly</em>
  <em> in front of herself, </em>
  <em>unaware</em>
  <em> of the fire-benders fond gaze as </em>
  <em>she</em>
  <em> rambled on. </em>
  <em>"Zu of course, perhaps some food and some gold pieces all tied up in a bundle, oh, and some of those books from the </em>
  <em>library</em>
  <em> too! The ones about the dancing dragons!" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No weapons?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Why would we need </em>
  <em>weapons</em>
  <em> when we have you?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Good answer." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"And then we'll build a home somewhere secret, well, you'll probably build it, while </em>
  <em>I</em>
  <em> stand there shouting that you're doing it wrong.</em>
  <em> Then when that's done, we'l</em>
  <em>l have to get married obviously, Zu could officiate it, and we'd have your brother and sister and maybe even her friends round </em>
  <em>for</em>
  <em> tea every now and then, as long as they promise not to rat us out." </em>
  <em>Karai listed, with Honora nodding seriously </em>
  <em>whenever</em>
  <em> the dark-eyed girl looked up at her for her thoughts, a fond smile on her usually so serious face as she pressed her lips to the girls shoulder, laying a gentle kiss there as she mumbled, "</em>
  <em>And then?" </em>
</p><p><em>"And then we live </em><em>happily</em><em> ever after, of course."</em> <em>Honora</em> <em>smiled brightly, leaning against the wall behind her a pulling the girl with her, her eyes closing in contentment, happy to just sit there</em> <em>and</em><em> think of future happier times. </em></p><p>
  <em>"...Except, that's not how is happened. Was it, Honora?" </em>
</p><p><em>Her eyes snapped open</em> <em><b>and it was so Karai's burned face staring back at her</b></em><em>. Skin dripping grotesquely down the side of her face, </em><em>teeth</em><em> showing through the holes of her cheeks, </em><em>melted</em><em> blank eyes staring hollowly towards her as the </em><em>smell</em><em> of </em><b><em>burning </em></b><em>assaulted</em><em> her senses. Honora tried to scramble back, chest heaving and </em><em>terrified</em><em> as the room turned darker, temperatures reaching boiling level, but found herself unable to move as the corpse smiled grimly, blood and skin washing over her chin.</em></p><p><em>"How were we to know we were being watched that night? And how was I to know that loving you would be the biggest mistake of my life. I'm </em><em><b>dead</b></em><em> because of you. But don't worry, you'll be joining me soon and you know what the kicker is? You actually </em><em><b>deserve</b></em><em> it. You truly are </em><em><b>nothing</b></em><em> but your fathers daughter." </em><em>She spat, before her jaw unhinged and </em><em><b>swallowed </b></em><em>her whole. </em><br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Honora awoke, body jerking out in shock from the haunting nightmare, rather suprised to be doing so in all honesty as her body was violently jostled, her strangely heavy head rolling across her scarred shoulders, stringy hair brushing over her pale cheeks as she tried to get her bearing sluggishly, golden eyes blinking through the darkness but only seeing blurry shapes out in front of her that she couldn't hope to decipher. "S'where-"</p><p>"Shut your mouth, fire-nation <em>scum</em>."</p><p>Ah, she was going to take a wild guess and say she was in the earth kingdom. Her senses came back slowly but surely, especially when she felt her chained wrist being yanked up roughly, teeth baring savagely at the sudden pain as her other arm suffered the same treatment as whatever was holding her up tightly slipped away. For a moment, she expected her legs to give out once again, having long since long their strength, but she came to the startling realisation that her feet weren't even touching the <em>ground</em> in the first place.</p><p>Honora looked up, and felt her jaw almost <em>drop. </em>She was hanging from the metal chains locked up tight to the ceiling above here, like a piece of meat waiting to be <em>slaughtered</em> by a butcher. She then looked around her, eyes more adjusted to the darkness now she was more alert, and could make put thick bars holding her prisoner, and, from what her sensitive ears could hear, guards standing outside the doors leading to her cage.</p><p>Her head dropped forward once again, chest burning with something akin to shame as she hung there limply. <em>Spirits</em>, she wished the Avatar had just allowed her to die, it would be a far more acceptable fate than this humiliation she thought to herself dully, giving the chains a testing pull to see how strong they were, only to grunt at the way her still healing injuries stretched unpleasantly and instead stared out into the darkness in front of her.</p><p>She <em>hated </em>the dark. She'd hated it since she was a little girl, hated the way in concealed things, and especially hated the way it took her sense of sight away, leaving her feeling at a loss. Honora remembered those times almost fondly, however, because that was the only time Ursa would pay attention to her, would confort her, that, and when ferocious storms would assault the palace, each thundering hit striking her very bones as she'd lay awake at night.</p><p>Until of course, she'd grown out of such childish fears, after all, like her mother had whispered to her on those nights, she shouldn't fear what she couldn't control. And yet, hanging here now, with no one but her own guilty subconscious swirling around her head, did she desperately wish she'd believed her.</p><p>Honora lost track of time very quickly inside her prison, only able to hear bits and pieces of shouting and banging above her from the world upside, constantly fading in and out of consciousness, her body practically on the brink of starvation and dehydration, making the very bones that lay under her skin more prominent and weak. She idly wondered if this is what dying felt like, like the earth had drained her of everything she had, like she had no reason to go on and truly, did she?</p><p>Her brother and uncle were gone. She didn't even know if they made it through the journey to whether they swam too, and even if they did make it some place, how were they to survive? Her sister was strapped to their fathers side, probably being shaped into a newer version of a perfect monster, no longer immune to Ozai's cruel touches now that Honora could no longer protect her. Her mother was dead, father was a bastard with a God-complex, her pet possibly dead too, and, of course, her...Karai gone.</p><p>What was the point in going on when there was nothing left for her to protect?</p><p>But before she could get <em>even </em>deeper inside her own traitorous thoughts, she heard familar footsteps walking down the stone hallway just outside of her prison, her eyes narrowing in confusion and anger. What was the point of taking off that muzzle if they were just going to subject her to a worse fate? And people thought <em>she </em>was cruel.</p><p>The footsteps came to a stop outside the door to her cell, mumbling a bright greeting over to the guards and then moving to step inside, only for herself to be blocked quickly. "Sorry miss, you can't go in there."</p><p>"What? Why not?" Katara snapped, fingers tightening around the bowl of soup that sloshed against the sides of it, glaring up into the looming presence of the earth-bender in front of her who shifted uncomfortably. This was the second time today someone had tried to deny her entrance to see the princess, and she was starting to get suspicious.</p><p>"The prisoner inside is dangerous, we've been warned not to let anyone inside, lest she attacks."</p><p>"<em>We're</em> the ones who brought her here. You don't think I know how dangerous she is? Let me through please, I want to give this to her." She held up the bowl indignantly, scowling unpleasantly as she tried to step around them only for the two to clump together quickly, their arms crossed and gazes dark. "Miss, the prisoner already gets food delivered to her as safely as we can allow."</p><p>"Well, maybe I want to ask her something too. <em>Why</em> won't you let me in? I'm pretty sure I can handle myself in there, I <em>am </em>a master water-bender." Katara replied smugly, and then, she tried to do something stupid, she tried to do the whole 'dead-eyes' thing that Honora did, the one that looked intimidating and terrifying only to go cross eyed, and the men in front of her to stare at her uncomfortably.</p><p>"...The general has made his orders clear. No one is to be given clearance to visit."</p><p>Yeah, Katara didn't know why she thought that would actually work. There wasn't much to look at when you looked at her, well, nothing threatening anyway. But with the princess, everything about her screamed 'danger; do not engage' from her tall imposing figure, to her sharp cheeks with an even sharper smile.</p><p>"<em>Hmph</em>, we'll see about that." She muttered to herself darkly, and the sounds of her stomping footsteps storming away finally caused Honora to raise her head from where it had been staring at the ground underneath her. Well, that explains that. They didn't know what was happening to her in this cell, which, she supposed she could of been treated worse. Neglect was more Ursa's style, while torture under the guise of training was more Ozai's.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Honora continued to sway lightly, chains rattling with her continuous movement, head stubbornly lifting up every time her eyes fluttered against her will, exhaustion tempting her into the sweet caresses of sleep that she was stubbornly ignoring the call for. Sleeping meant dreams, and dreams meant memories, and memories usually turned into nightmares. However, she couldn't stop herself for long, could feel her body draining of energy.</p><p>Until a loud and ferocious <b>bang</b>! Echoed from up above her, eyes snapping open and body jerking awake, as she heard the noise come from where she was assuming the courtyard was, mainly due to the assortment of constant voices and training exercises. She paused, now awake and alert as she tilted her head up to try and hear more, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. <b>Bang!</b></p><p>The ceiling shook, and thick dust particles began to fall down, tangling in her already gross looking and feeling hair, as she viciously shook it from side to side with a grimace. She <em>really </em>hated being dirty.</p><p>
  <em>"Men! Attack the Avatar!" </em>
</p><p>Honora looked up sharply, golden eyes wide at the faint shout and the loud noises following after, each one sending the holding cell below into shaking tremors to the point where it now wasn't only dust falling atop her, but small rocks and, what she was pretty sure were <em>worms</em> too, confusion striking her angry as she snarled over to the guards by the door, upper lip curling. "Hey! There's something going on up there."</p><p>But she was ignored, in fact, it seemed like they hadn't even moved an inch, as if not hearing the obvious fight going on up above them. She tried again. "Don't tell me that you're <em>that</em> incompetent that you don't know when you're under attack." There was still no movement once more, and that's when she came to the revelation that <em>they </em>weren't under attack. But they were the ones <em>doing</em> the attacking.</p><p>And then, that's when she heard it. A shrill and <b>familiar</b>, haunting scream.</p><p>"Blue-eyes?" Honora whispered in confusion, hearing the same scream calling out the avatar's name and felt her body tense, tugging on the chain as she yelled out. "What the hell is wrong with you!" But, there was once again no answer, she didn't know why they were doing this, and...she wouldn't be finding out if she was <em>stuck</em> down here.</p><p>Her golden eyes clenched shut, counting inside her head as the adrenaline <em>rushed </em>through her veins, reviving the energy that had been stored, waiting for a moment, <em>the</em> moment that she could escape. Now seemed just as good a time as any, as long as she was <em>quick.</em></p><p>Do not fear the lightening, nor the thunder that comes after her mother used to whisper to her when she was but a child, when she still had remnants of <b><em>good</em></b> and <b><em>innocence</em></b> still trapped inside her and was scared of the storm hanging by overhead. Don't fear something that you can't control, because its simply just another part of life, just as certain as death is, and it was nothing to be afraid about, she'd tell her, with a face and smile that looked so similar to her own.</p><p>But...as her pale fingers began to spark with blue <b><em>electric</em></b> currents, and when the temperature around her begins to drop and charge did she realize that <b><em>that</em></b> was exactly what everyone <em>should</em> be afraid of. Before those same, burning hands wrapped around the metal of her chains and pulled down once. <em>Thunk</em>.</p><p>Twice. <em>Thunk</em>.</p><p>Three times. <b><em>Crash</em></b>!</p><p>Before they tore out from the ceiling above her, rocks and dirt and <em>dust</em> cascading down around her as the guards standing with their back towards the cage startled at the noise. She didn't give them much of a chance to investigate as her eyes snapped open and she landed on her feet, a cruel smirk dancing over her lips as she allowed the fire that had been <em>brimming </em>under her veins, unused and untouched to explode all around her, burning and burning until her metal cage had melted, and the earthbenders didn't move again.</p><p>Honora only hesitated a moment before she hit the ground running, swinging the chains to lock around an archway and used that momentum to pull herself up into the air and onto it, yanking them away just as quickly, now on the upper level and avoiding the stairs as she sped towards the window, looking like she was about to leap out of it but stopping herself at the last second, leaning her body out of it to see what was actually happening, only to watch with wide-eyes as Katara's head sunk under the earth.</p><p>She stared at the spot, unblinking, but didn't have enough time to question what she was feeling about the water-benders seemingly quick death as the Avatar, kneeling where the girl had disappeared mere <em>seconds </em>ago, began to rise on his knees, the tattoos that embraced his body glowing, and then he turned his face to show eyes glowing the very same, lip curling into a vengeful snarl.</p><p>"Shit."</p><p>"It worked!" A man yelled, shaking his fist triumphantly in the air, unaware of the obvious danger he was in. "It worked!"</p><p>A powerful gust of air caused the strange man to shield his eyes with his hand and his triumphant expression quickly disappeared and was replaced by one of fear as he stared at the Avatar, air swirled violently around the boy as he then twisted his body, performing a cutting motion that sent the earth-bender flying backwards from the powerful air blast. He landed roughly on the ground and lifted his head up in time to see the Avatar start to rise into the sky, elements swirling around him dangerously.</p><p>Honora swore again, looking around the base quickly for any sign that she could make her escape while the Avatar powered up to seemingly slaughter everyone, and found her exit at the very back on the about to be carnage and snarled. This was going to be tricky. However, before she could take a step or think of a plan, the earth-bender who she suspected was the general began shouting once more.</p><p>"Avatar Aang! Can you hear me? Your friend is safe!" He then shifted into position and slammed his large foot on the ground, pulling the water-bender from it who gasped desperately for breath, tears building in the blue of her eyes as she clutched herself fearfully. "It was just a trick to trigger the Avatar State!" the general tried to explain as he smiled maniacally, "And it worked!"</p><p>Honora couldn't tear her golden eyes away, and for that hesitation, she lost all chance for her time to escape, as the Avatar swiveled about on the vortex that he'd created, and then landed on the ground forcefully, creating a powerful blast of thick, large slabs of <em>crushing </em>stone, that headed off into all directions, slamming into the Earthbenders unsuspecting bodies.</p><p>But Honora didn't look at them, instead she watched, practically in slow motion, as the dangerous concoction sped towards Katara's prone form, frozen in shock. And without giving herself time to even <em>think </em>things through, the princess threw herself from her perch, blue flame surrounding her as she landed, rolled, and then aimed as the <em>lightening </em>coursed through her fingertips, and met the weight, shattering it to harmless pieces that passed over her pale cheeks, before that final, dramatic burst of energy wiped her out and she slumped to the floor, body aching.</p><p>"Honora?!"</p><p>"Hey, blue-eyes." She turned her head to the side and smirked weakly, turning so she could lean on one arm and wincing when the pain struck her painfully, all the while Katara stared at her, hand poised over her, regrettably empty, water-skin. "You <em>broke</em> out of your cell?"</p><p>"You screamed."</p><p>"So, you came out to protect me?" Katara asked softly, defences lowering as she stared at the weak fire-bender, who somehow looked even thinner and weaker than the last time she saw her, even after that ridiculous display of <em>raw</em> power.</p><p>"No. I figured if they had no qualms about attacking the Avatar, they'd have no problem in attacking me. I'm a survivor blue-eyes, and breaking out then was the only way I was going to survive. Thanks for the distraction."</p><p>The conversation was quickly cut short as the Avatar lowered to the ground, air cocooning around him protectively until he finally slumped forwards onto his hands and knees, staring in horror at the destruction around him, the destruction <em>he</em> had caused. Katara didn't spare the fire-bender another glance as she ran forwards and wrapped her arms around him comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Katara." Aang said quietly, his tone regretful as he embraced her back, tucking himself under her chin. "I hope you never have to see me like that again."</p><p>"Ha! Are you joking? That was almost perfect!" The earthbending general shouted manically, a dark gleam in his eye as his tone then turned thoughtful as he stroked his beard, "We just have to find out a way to control you when you're like that."</p><p>Honora stared at the man from her position of the floor, and, upon deciding that she <em>really </em>didn't like how much he reminded her of Zhao, grabbed a large rock that was resting beside her and threw it at the back of his head, knocking him out cold as he fell down, showing the girl the couple still kneeling on the floor and staring at her in shock. "He's lucky it wasn't lightening." Was all she muttered before resting her head back down against the floor, grunting lowly under her breath.</p><p>"Okay, up you get, scary." Suddenly hands were scooped under her armpits, dragging her up like she was simply a <em>child </em>and holding her there. She lifted her head drowsily to see the water-tribe boy staring down at her, sitting atop a ostrich horse so he could finally be eye level with the girl as he wrinkled his nose up at her dirty state.</p><p>Honora shrugged out of his hold, snarling dangerously and swaying on her feet but thankfully, not falling over as her eyes passed over the three teenagers standing around her, each eyeing her in suspicion and awaiting for her to attack. She paused for a moment, thinking about her options.</p><p>They wouldn't allow her to leave, they thought she was too dangerous for the outside world and well, it's not like they were <em>wrong</em>, and even if she did somehow manage to pull up enough strength from her body that was barely hanging on and manage to escape, there was a large chance she wouldn't make the journey to the firenation, to do what she'd intended to do ever since Zuko got his scar.</p><p>There were too many outliers that she couldn't control, however, an idea struck her quite suddenly, a potentially disastrous and <em>thrilling </em>idea that could very fine well work. They wouldn't <em>let </em>her leave her imprisonment, but, perhaps she <em>wouldn't</em> have to.</p><p>"Tell you what Avatar, let's make a deal." Honora straightened her back as much as she could allow, golden eyes flashing and blaring out like the sun shining above them, looking every bit the prodigal soldier that she was as the Avatar slowly stood up from his kneeling position to stare up at the girl. "A deal?" He asked suspiciously, tilting his head to the side.</p><p>"You need a firebending teacher, do you not? And considering you aren't exactly the most popular person in the firenation, I'd figure it'd be <em>pretty</em> hard to find one."</p><p>"Wait, are you saying you'll teach him firebending? <em>You</em>? The crazy princess who tried to capture us for months?" Sokka asked indignantly, scoffing in derision, exchanging looks with Katara over the monks bald head, only to see her contemplating eyes staring back at him. He threw his arms up in the air with a huff.</p><p>"Incorrect, my <em>brother</em> tried to capture you for months." At this she turned the the Avatar, who was still looking rather confused by the whole conversation and where it had turned, wondering if it were some scheme to get them to lower their defenses so she could make her escape. "You've seen me fight, well, the better term is you've seen me <b>win</b>. Do you <em>really</em> think if I wanted to capture you, I wouldn't of been able to?"</p><p>"And what do you want in return." The Avatar asked smartly, narrowing his large grey eyes over to the girl, watching as that familar dark and <em>dangerous </em>glint passed over her face as a smile slowly began to curve around her mouth, that looked more like a threat than anything else as the two looked at each other, two beings full of untamable power that was brimming out of them in chaotic waves.</p><p>"I'll teach you firebending, Avatar. And in return, I want your help to make sure my father's reign ends. <b>Permanently</b>."<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Honora breathed quietly, the gentle but quick moving winds passing over her face soothingly and blowing the frustratingly dirty strands of dark and long hair away from her pale face, feeling strangely weightless now she no longer had heavy chain binded around her body like deadly snakes, ensnaring her into a trap before they'd swallow her whole.</p><p>In fact, she strangly hadn't felt peace like this for a long time, absorbing the fresh air greedily. Then again, absence did make the heart grow fonder, or whatever that saying went like.</p><p>Her eyes opened slowly, looking over at the other occupants sitting on the saddle before her, each resting on either side, non of them talking or looking at her, but unable to turn their backs lest she attack. They may of had the same goals in mind, the same <b><em>purpose</em></b>, but that didn't mean for a second that they trusted her, and she felt the very same.</p><p>The Avatar looked over to her just as she turned her gaze back to the sea, wondering if was truly a good idea to accept her deal like he had done with the full support of Katara and, strangely enough, Appa. And, of course the partial support from Sokka, before he looked back in front of him, hands tightening around the reins in his hand. Only time would tell if Honora would be an ally he believed she could be, only time and patience as Appa groaned underneath him and pulled them all up higher into the sky.</p><p>However, staring at the very same ocean, miles upon miles away, dark amber eyes watched the waves go by idly, twirling a fragile shell between her long, pointed fingers, contemplating dangerously as she thought back to her brother and uncle, and most importantly, her sisters supposed demise. Not tearing her eyes away as she heard a guard walk up behind her, their heart racing anxiously.</p><p>"Princess, the hawk is ready to be sent back to the fire-lord. The warrants for the their arrest will be posted around the firenation and earth-kingdom very soon."</p><p>"All three of them?" She asked coldly, still staring at the waters in front of her, frustration leaking through her veins at being unable to catch her idiot of a brother and embarrassment of an uncle. The guard hesitated for a moment, mentally counting the numbers a few times to make sure he's heard correctly. "Three? Princess...I only counted two traitors when we went ashore."</p><p>"<b><em>Yes</em></b>. Three. I want my sisters portrait up next to those traitorous <em>fools</em>." The shell was crushed between the very same pale fingers that had taken it, shattering to tiny pieces.</p><p>"But-but the princess is dead?"</p><p>"No. My sister is many things, and dead is most certainly not one of them. She would of got up, Honora always gets back up." Azula finally turned to glare towards him, upper lip curling into a frightful snarl. It had always been Zuzu's mantra growing up, alongside the fact that <em>she </em>always lied. And <b>both </b>statements were true.</p><p>"Your faith is admirable, Princess, but-"</p><p>"It's not faith. It's <em><b>fact</b></em>...change course, there's been a change in plan. I'm going to see some old friends."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Disclaimer; <br/>Whoa! This chapter was a long one, and I'm sorry if it seemed rushed or sloppy, I haven't had alot of motivation recently but I tried my best to give you all some content. Yes, Honora is officially part of the gaang now, because they all have similar motives in mind which is to stop/kill Ozai, and now that Honora doesn't have Zuko to protect, she feels like that is now her only purpose. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, thankyou for your patience.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Love is for fools."</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Honora was starting to suspect that the Avatar and his friends were idiots.</b> Actually, forget suspecting, she <em>knew </em>that they were idiots as she watched the small group float around the river, giggling like children as they splashed one another, content to waste the day away, with the Avatar and blue-eyes beginning to go over their waterbending techniques, with smiles upon their faces as if it were all one big game. She stared at them darkly for a few moments before rolling her golden eyes and leaning back against the trunk of the tree with a sigh.</p><p>The fire-bender had forgot for a moment, that the Avatar was <em>technically </em>still a child, even if he was a child of immense power, quite like herself. Except when she'd been twelve years old, if she had acted like he was now, focusing on having fun rather than training, she had very serious doubt she would of made it to thirteen.</p><p>Honora rubbed her cheek against her shoulder, grimacing slightly as the rough material of her new shirt pressed back against her, not really relieving the itch but instead making it sting. She already missed the fine silk of her fire-nation robes, that material had always been so cool against her burning skin, but this green blob of scratchyness was what she'd have to deal with if she didn't want to be discovered.</p><p>And it wasn't like she could complain, it had been her idea to disguise herself, stealing one of the unconscious earthbenders shirts before they'd made their leave, and the second the small group had touched the ground, she'd taken Sokka's boomerang...without his permission, and had went down to the river and after a few moments of hesitation, sliced the sharp edge through her dark hair, and only stopping until it curled around her jaw instead of her mid back.</p><p>The only mercy she'd been given was that the water-bender had given Honora her golden wrist gauntlets, having found them in the snow after her close call with death, and had kept them for reasons she hadn't discussed, but, after Honora's change of heart or, more accurately change of sides, she'd handed them over as a peace offering, or at least that's what she was assuming.</p><p>The tall girl brushed her hand through her hair gently, jaw tensing slightly as she tried not to think about the sentimental loss, only to hear a strange chitter to the side of her, and she slowly turned her head to where the groups small flying creature sat on a tree stump, staring up at her with big and wide unblinking eyes, continuing to make louder noises once it was sure it had her attention as she scowled over at it with narrowed eyes.</p><p>"Avatar! Your little pest is doing that thing again." Honora called without tearing her eyes away from it, not trusting it to do something disgusting once again. She'd fallen asleep on the large bison after the escape from the Earth-kingdom base, too exhausted and spent to care about being surrounded by potential allies or enemies, only to be awakened when the little monster <em>shoved </em>his entire arm down her <em>throat</em><em>. </em></p><p>It had taken both the Avatar, the water-triber and blue-eyes to hold her down to stop her from burning it <b>alive</b>.</p><p>"He's just trying to say sorry!"</p><p>Aang turned, giving the tall girl a bright grin as he circled through the water, wincing when he noticed the dark look she gave Momo as he continued to chitter sadly, large ears drooping down as it scurried back over to the waters edge with another sorrowful look cast back over to her. Was she seriously being guilt-tripped by a flying lemour? Is this really what her life had become in the space of two days?</p><p>"Well I think it's to late for that. He's made his bed, now he shall <em>lie</em> in it."</p><p>"Why don't you come in with us! The waters warm!" The Avatar said, wiggling his brows over at her as Katara turned to look at her too, chewing the skin of her plump lip as she considered using the water around her to splash the fire-bender, but not thinking the possible loss of limb was going to be worth it, the princess was all work and <em>no </em>play it seemed.</p><p>"Yes, I'm pretty sure I saw the bison relieving himself in it a few moments ago." Honora replied offhandly while wrinkling her nose, stepping out of the shadows so they could see the grimace taking up her bruised face, her cheekbones <em>even </em>sharper than they usually were and almost gaunt looking due to her lack of nourishment over the last few days.</p><p>"<b><em>What</em></b><em>?!" </em>Sokka squeaked, flipping himself over so he was no longer lying on his back, turning to look at the large bison is disgust who groaned apologetically, but the boy didn't want to hear it as he wavered his way through the waters quickly, his hands braced out in front of him while mumbling horrified 'ew, ew, ew' under his breath until he reached the shore, in which he then turned to glare at the dangerous Princess.</p><p>"You couldn't of told us sooner?"</p><p>"You looked like you were enjoying yourself, who was I to interrupt." Honora mocked, grinning smugly at the boys dark gaze and knowing he wouldn't do <em>shit. </em>Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Avatar as he shot himself into the air using his bending and landing on the bank beside her, sending a disappointed look over to the bision with pursed lips as he helped Katara out of the water.</p><p>"Appa, we've talked about this."</p><p>"He's done this before? Actually don't answer that, we don't have time for any of this." Honora shook her head, dark hair brushing over her jaw as she did so as she stood straighter, looking over at the other occupants in the group with narrowed eyes before glancing at the sun in the sky with a scowl. If they wanted to get to Omashu by today, they better had get a move on, the sooner the Avatar learned earthbend, the <em>better</em>.</p><p>"What? You mean having fun?" Katara asked cockily, crossing her arms over her chest and jutting her hip to the side as she frowned at the girl standing in front of her, trying not to flinch when those golden eyes made contact with her own, a glint passing through them dangerously.</p><p>"Are you forgetting we're in a war? We have to get the Avatar to Omashu so he can learn earthbending, and the sooner he finishes with that the sooner <em>I</em> can start teaching him firebending."</p><p>"Aang. His name is A, A, N, G." The water-bender snapped slowly, almost mockingly so, wondering what Honora found so hard with saying someone's <em>real </em>name. It was like the princess did it on purpose just to annoy those around her, and what was worse was that they all fell into her trap like a fly does a spider, which just brought Katara even more frustration as she ignored Aang as he tried to keep the peace, nervously laughing as he called out, "it's okay! I don't mind."</p><p>"Is that <em>really</em> the hill you want to die upon?"</p><p>"Hey! Don't threaten my sister!" Sokka snapped, squaring up against the tall girl, stepping on the tips of his toes slightly as he pushed down the overwhelming disappointment when he <em>still </em>barely reached the fire-benders nose as she glared down at him, upper lip curling into a frightening snarl as she stalked closer, all three of them now ignoring the Avatar's attempts to calm them, his large grey eyes wide and panicked.</p><p>"Oh, you'll <em>know </em>when I threaten your sister."</p><p>Sokka opened his mouth to reply, his hands clenched by his side and brows furrowed in a frown only for their argument to be interrupted by the sudden sound of...singing? The four slowly turned their heads to the side, three of them with confusion and one with a deadly glare as a strange group of travellers walked out from the trees, playing their instruments while dancing around each other, enamoured by their own music and oblivious to the world around them.</p><p>In other words, they were surrounded by hippies.</p><p>"Oh, what fresh hell is this?" Honora snarled, turning her back to the strangers in exasperation while resting her hands on her slim hips, resisting the urge to slam her head against one of the trees repeatedly until she passed out. This was really not what she had in mind when she joined the opposing side.</p><p>"Hey, river people!" It seemed they'd been spotted as one of the nomads looked up at then, bringing the rest of the groups attention over to them as they stood by the river, all of them smiling brightly with their instruments hanging down by their side, Honora didn't even attempt to conceal the roll of her eyes as she glared at the sky, begging for strength.</p><p>"We're not river people." Katara said, tilting her head to the side in confusion as she spread her arms out slightly.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"You're not? Well then, what kind of people are you?" The man with the pipa asked in puzzlement, staring at them with narrowed eyes as he stepped closer, looking them up and down and unaware of the way the dangerous fire-bender had moved closer as soon as he had, her golden eyes glistening with threat, not wanting to let her guard down just in case the travelling group <em>were </em>in disguise, though she <em>really </em>did doubt it. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Just...people." Aang replied with a small shrug of his shoulders, smiling up at the group peacefully, obviously just happy to meet new people which made Honora grimace in disgust, they really didn't have time for this, however, the hippie that were conversing with them shared that easy-going grin as he nodded seriously. "Aren't we all brother."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Stop talking to them and maybe they'll go away." Honora snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and resisting the urge to groan as they all looked over to her in suprise, one of the people from strange group frowning up at her, almost sadly. "Now that isn't very nice."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>I'm </em>not very nice. Move or you will <b><em>be</em></b> moved." She stepped closer threateningly, dark brows furrowing in a glare but she didn't get very far as she was quickly pulled back by the Avatar as he gave her a disapproving, somewhat scolding look, staring at the group apologetically like she was some destructive child on a temper tantrum, and she really did have no idea why she allowed it. "Honora don't be mean!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Who are you?" Sokka finally asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion and Honora almost threw her arms up in relief that it seemed not <em>all </em>of the Avatar's group were so trusting.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm Chong and this is my wife, Lily." The man introduced, still fiddling with his instrument in his free hand as he gestured towards the smiling woman with a large flower in her dark hair, who had been playing a flute with the other, and then he finally pointed towards the other people, standing happily behind him. "We're nomads! Happy to go wherever the wind takes us."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You guys are nomads? That's great!" Aang said excitedly as he gestured towards himself, large grey eyes bright with happiness. "I'm a nomad!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, me too!" Chong said cheerfully, leaning in closer to look at the small body who exchanged a confused glance at Honora who rolled her eyes, finding the whole conversation idiotic. "I know..." Aang replied instead upon seeing he was getting no help from the tall fire-bender as he stared up at the strange man oddly. "You just said that."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh..." Chong stated airily then noticed Sokka standing in front of him and his expression brightened instantly. "Nice underwear!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora, watching as Sokka quickly hide behind her, rolled her dark golden eyes, leaning back into the shade but still shielding the boy from the nomads innocent wandering eyes with a loud and dramatic huff, something told her that this was going to be a <em>long</em> and tiring day. <br/>________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"If you try and come near me with that flower you're going to die a slow and <em><b>painful</b></em>death." Honora said slowly, her voice low and rough, not even looking up from where she was glaring out at the trees in front of her with her dark gaze, and the nomad coming up behind the fire-bender holding a bright flower crown quickly began to back away, smiling sheepishly, feeling her aura and <em>knowing </em>that the threat <em>wasn't</em> an exaggeration. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Do you ever relax?" Katara asked, quirking a brow with a peaceful smile of her face, enjoying the fingers brushing through her brown locks as she glanced over at the tense fire-bender leaning against the tree in front of her, her pretty face twisted in a scowl aimed at everyone and everything. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<b><em>No</em></b>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, Sokka." Aang greeted, grinning brightly when the Water Tribe boy approached, the pink flower wreath on his head falling forward slightly, tilting off to the side which he ignored, grey eyes shining for some odd reason, obviously enjoying the company at hand while his firebending companion wanted to whack her head off the nearest object. "You should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Chong stopped strumming at his pipa finally and looked over at Aang. "Well, not <em>everywhere</em>, Little Arrowhead. But where we haven't been, we're heard about through stories and songs."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Fascinating." Honora said dully, happy that the grating noise of their so called music had finally come to a stop, but still desperately wanting to <em>leave </em>as quickly as her long legs could carry her. This, this exact moment in time was her <em>greatest</em> nightmare. Aang grinned at Sokka, either not seeing or being completely ignorant of the order boys dark glare, no doubt sharing Honora's inhibitions and wanting to get on the move quickly. "They said they'll take us to see a giant night crawler."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"On the way, there's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow!" One of the nomads, Moku said dreamily as he rolled onto his back with a happy smile on his face.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Look, I have to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara is busy, I guess it's up to me." Sokka stated in exasperation, beyond annoyed with the detour even though he'd been the one to suggest relaxing in the river, blatantly ignoring the glare his sister gave him as Lily continued to braid her hair softly, giggling the words to some sort of song and in a world of her own. "We need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks, no worms, and definitely <em>no</em> rainbows!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora finally lifted her gaze to smirk at Sokka maliciously, golden eyes practically glowing in the warm sun as she stalked over to him, her arms folded behind her back as she tilted her head in mock thought, humming condescendingly under her breath. "What's the matter ponytail? Are you <em>not</em> enjoying getting your hair braided?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Shut up! And it's not a ponytail!" Sokka squeaked, voice breaking indignantly as he grabbed the end of his hair protectively as the dangerous fire-bender circled around him, biting the air and causing him to flinch away with a curse, feeling very much like the prey to her predator as she mocked him. "Oh its definitely a ponytail, and doesn't it make you look so <b><em>pretty</em></b>." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Look, didn't you say that we had to get to Omashu as soon as possible?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yes. An <em>hour </em>ago and you all refused to listen." Honora rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest to give him a dark look, refusing to help him in the slightest, feeling like she was back with her brother listening to <em>his </em>constant whining. She was starting to think things would of been a lot easier if she'd <em>died </em>in that jail cell. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well I'm listening now!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Wow, sounds like someone has a case of destination fever." Chong said in a sing-song voice as interrupted the two causing their attention to snap over to him with similar growls on their faces that he obviously was stupidly not intimidated by as he instead grinned good-naturedly at them, making eye contact with Sokka, "You're worried to much about where you're going."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You got to focus less on the <em>where</em> and more on the <em>going</em>." Lily piped in as she finally looked up from her dark, smiling drowsily as she tossed one hand out to the side, accidently pulling Katara's braid who grimaced in pain, glaring over at Honora who smirked at the show of karma. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>O. Ma. Shu!</em>" Sokka retorted impatiently as he enunciated each syllable, his eyebrow continuing to twitch in agitation, looking towards Honora with a certain begging glint in his pale blue eyes but she only shrugged, he was the one who'd wanted to relax, this was his problem as far as she was concerned.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sokka's right." Katara commented suddenly after a pause, ignoring the Firebenders indignat look as she glanced over at Aang apologetically, not wanting to ruin the fun the both of them were having but knowing they had to continue their journey. "We need to find King Bumi, so Aang can learn Earthbending somewhere safe."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sounds like you're headed to Omashu." Chong stated obliviously, leaning his head up from where it was resting on one of the Bison's hairy legs, burrowing his brows in confusion as Sokka smacked his forehead in frustration, before he looked over at the teens seriously. "There's an old story about a secret pass right through the mountains." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara obviously wasn't convinced as she gave him a rather skeptically look. "Is this real or a legend?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, it's a real legend. And it's as old as Earthbending itself." Chong replied as Honora groaned, already seeing where this was going and sure enough, the older but <em>not </em>taller man then began strumming his pipa and singing loudly, grating against the migraine forming in the Firebenders head. "Two lovers, forbidden from one another, the war divides their people and the mountain divides them apart. Built a path to be together...'</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Chong stopped and scratched at his head for a moment, looking up into the sky as if to find his answer there but not getting it, causing him to sigh. "Yeah, I forget the next couple of lines, but then it goes..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountains, secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel! Yeah!" He jumped down to kneel down, strumming his instrument aggressively as he finally finished singing, the other nomads around him giving him a thunderous applause as he soaked it up, and a vein in Sokka's forehead began throbbing slightly in annoyance.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I think we'll just stick with flying." The water-triber grumbled, clearly unamused as he glared at the nomads. "We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Wait, that's your plan? To fly there?" Honora suddenly interjected, un-crossing her arms and moving out from the shade once more with wide golden eyes, her gaze flickering from person to person in shock and praying to whatever spirit that was listening that her temporary allies weren't as stupid as they looked, however, the way they all blinked at her in response told her her prayers went unanswered. "Yeah, so?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That's not going to work." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Why not?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"There will be hundreds of firenation soldiers stationed around it, each loaded with catapults. You won't be able to pass them all through." Honora snapped, teeth grinding together and a tenton in her neck pulsing out as she tried to push her frustration down, fingers unconsciously begining to spark with blue currents that had everyone shifting uneasily. However it was Sokka that stepped forward with a scowl on his face, gesturing towards Appa nonchalantly. "We've done it before!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Then you got <em><b>lucky.</b></em>" </p>
</div><p>"Honora we have to do whatever makes Appa comfortable, he doesn't like going underground." Aang said, moving slightly as the large bison tucked its head under his arms, grunting mournfully as the Avatar parted his nose in comfort, hushing him gently and whispering kind words all the while Honora opened gaped at him in something akin to horror. "Yes, well I don't exactly like enclosed spaces, but sometimes there simply <em>isn't </em>a better alternative."</p><p>"You're scared of small spaces...seriously? You?" Katara asked almost mockingly, crossing her arms over her chest with narrowed eyes as the dangerous princess spun aroun to glare at her enraged. "Is that <em>really</em> important right now?"</p><p>"Look Honora, we're doing it our way, are you coming or not?"</p><p>"No, I won't be. See you in an hour." She said, leaning against a three nonchalantly with a sly smirk, watching they way they all soured and climbed aboard Appa, tensions still running high though Aang continued to look back over his shoulder anxiously, obviously not wanting to leave her alone but she pretended she couldn't see it, more interested in looking at her nails in boredom.</p><p>Honora didn't look up when she heard them take off, mainly because she'd knew they'd be back soon, however she did spot one of the nomads come closer to her, opening their mouth to talk to her but she quickly shot that down as quickly as they tried it. "If one word leaves your mouth, I'm burning this place to the <b><em>ground</em></b>."</p><p><em>The room was </em><em>boiling</em><em> hot, it always had been and filled with an overwhelming </em><em>stench</em><em> of rotten meat, the stench of death clinging to it like perfume. It was a simple and small room, unassuming at first glance, you'd be </em><em>unaware</em><em> of </em><em>it's dark</em> <em>intentions</em><em> and purposes until you took a closer look at the reinforced doors that assured that no one would be getting in, or more accurately, no one would be </em><em>getting</em><em> out. </em></p><p><em>There were </em><em>scorch</em> <em>marks</em><em> against the floor, </em><em>jagged</em><em> edges on the ground fron where the earth had been moved and shifted, blood splatters, torns off limbs and </em><em>melted</em><em> flesh and through all that </em><em>horrendous</em><em> destruction kneeled a young Honora, sobbing for panting breath as she heaved against the floor, bodies of prisoners of war surrounding her, earthbenders, waterbenders and even </em><em>Firebenders</em><em>, all promised their freedom if they could do a simple task, win their fight against the </em><em>firenation's</em><em> most monstrous weapon and they'd all take the bet...and they'd all </em><b><em>lose </em></b><em>it, every single time.</em></p><p><em>"I can't do it anymore!" Honora shouted, voice raw from screaming, hours upon hours of fighting with no </em><em>hint</em><em> of a break leaving her arms shaking and body breaking alongside her mind because </em><em>everything</em> <b><em>hurt. </em></b><em>There was blood in her mouth that she didn't even know if it were hers, her ears were ringing, mind aching and lungs </em><em>fraying</em><em> as they begged for fresh air that </em><em>only</em><em> smoke would be </em><em>inhaled</em><em>. There was blood on her hands, there was always blood on her hands. </em></p><p>
  <em>"Stand and </em>
  <b>
    <em>fight</em>
  </b>
  <em>." Ozai snarled, watching her from his seat away from the horrors he was forcing her to live through, his upper lip curling into a snarl as he looked down at her in </em>
  <b>
    <em>every </em>
  </b>
  <em>sense of the word. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I can't." Honora begged, chest heaving </em>
  <em>with</em>
  <em> each shuddering breath that shot pain straight down to her heart, beating faster and faster until she was terrified it would </em>
  <em>give</em>
  <em> put all together, and that, </em>
  <b>
    <em>that</em>
  </b>
  
  <em>would be the mercy she was so desperate to be given. She couldn't do this anymore, there were too many bodies, too much pain, too much destruction of her own making when all she wanted to do was sleep. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"</em>
  <b>
    <em>Fine</em>
  </b>
  <em>. Perhaps I shall call </em>
  <b>
    <em>Azula</em>
  </b>
  <em> in, see if she fares any better." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Those taunting words </em>
  <em>circled</em>
  <em> around her ears, </em>
  <em>filling</em>
  <em> her with horror and it was then that Ozai won whatever battle the two had just </em>
  <em>thought</em>
  <em>, her father gaining back control with just a a single sentence, as Honora spit her blood onto the floor, every movement causing her body to protest that she ignored as took in a deep breath, face shifting in a dark and dangerous blank </em>
  <em>expression</em>
  <em> as the door opened once more and five more prisoners stumbled in. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>It would always be her. Never Zuko. Never Azula. She thought as her trembling fingers clenched into the dirt underneath her, grounding her to the earth and cold to the touch and, when she looked up into the calculating face of her father above her with features </em>
  <b>
    <em>so </em>
  </b>
  <em>similar to her own, lightning flashed across her golden eyes hauntinglg, </em>
  <b>
    <em>dangerously</em>
  </b>
  <em>, angry and vengeful, before she screamed and let her fire </em>
  <b>
    <em>explode</em>
  </b>
  <em> around her, burning and burning and burning until there was nothing but </em>
  <b>
    <em>ash</em>
  </b>
  <em> at her feet.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Always her. Never Zuko. Never Azula.</em>
</p><p>Honora was suddenly shaken away from her less than fond memories by a loud and thunderous familar thump, and she looked up just in time to see the Avatar and his friends coming out from the trees, their clothes singed, faces covered in ash and looking far worse for wear causing a cruel smirk to dance over her lips, however she was interrupted as Sokka held a single, defeated hand up as they continued to walk past her, gesturing ahead.</p><p>"Not a word. Secret love cave it is."<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>They'd been walking for what seemed like <em>hours</em>, days even, but Honora knew that realistically she was just being over-dramatic, but with the <em>constant</em> singing and dancing and <em>talking abou everything and </em><em><b>anything, </b></em>it was a miracle she hadn't just given into her urges and set them all alight. However, because of the fact that she was ignoring her every instinct to keep her sanity, it seemed all that spent up frustration had moved to her left eye, which continued to twitch with every <em>stupid </em>comment that left the nomads mouths.</p><p>Which was alot. And yet somehow, they'd still managed to forget to tell them the <em><b>minor</b></em>detail about the cave being supposedly <em>cursed. </em>Not that the princess believed in such nonsense but it would of been nice to have a warning she supposed.</p><p>"I'm suprised you haven't made any more threats, are you feeling alright?" A voice broke her out of her thoughts, and her attention quickly snapped over to the water-bender walking by her side, looking up at her with bright, almost taunting eyes as she quirked a lone brow up at her.</p><p>"It's not been without its difficulties...but I am trying to be good, I'd rather not be left to whatever fate the earth-kingdom have in store for me." Honora replied with a smirk, strolling along with her arms crossed nonchalantly behind her back which was as straight as a board, walking every bit like the soldier she'd been trained to be, while everyone else looked like hunchbacks in comparison.</p><p>Katara smiled in amusement for a moment, but it was quickly wiped away from her face as quick as it had been put on, as if she didn't want it to be there in the first place, causing Honora's eyes to narrow in confusion. But, the fire-bender didn't get the chance to call her out on it, as both of their attentions were pulled over to the front of the group where a large mouth to what, she was assuming, was the secret tunnel they would be using to get to Omashu.</p><p>"Hey, hey! We're here!" Chong exclaimed joyfully as their rather large group came to a stand still just outside of the cave, the teens of the group visibly cringing in some horror and disgust with the nomads remained unaware.</p><p>Sokka looked up at the large inscription above the cave entrance with narrowed eyes, exchanging a look with Honora who grimaced and then shrugged her shoulders with a snarl, shoving her sparking fingers under her armpits, knowing that there <em>unfortunately</em> wasn't any other options as the boy then directed his glare towards the nomad, still fiddling with his instrument without a care in the world. "What exactly is this curse?"</p><p>"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves." Chong explained as he stared at the cave with what could only be described as nonchalant awe, as he then looked over his shoulder at the teens and shrugged helplessly. "Otherwise, you'll be trapped in them forever."</p><p>"And die." Lily piped in, raising a hand as if she were in a classroom with an oblivious smile. "Oh yeah, and die." Chong agreed with another shrug, before his expression brightened as his eyes lit up. "Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song!"</p><p></p><div>
  <p>They could only watch as the older man strolled over to the mouth of the cave, keeping his back towards them which was rather dramatic in Honora's opinion, not that she was anyone to talk as he played a single ominous note that echoed through the silence. "And die!" He sang in an strange low voice, and Honora didn't even try to hide to roll of her eyes as she rubbed her forefinger and thumb across the bridge of her nose in frustration. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You have <em>got </em>to be kidding me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Chong turned around at the sound of her raspy voice, grinning up at her brightly as he strolled closer to the group once more, though keeping his distance from the girl who'd threatened to burn his pipa and reduce it to ash that she'd <em>then</em> use to blind him. "What's the matter, my tall friend? Do you not believe in curses?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm <b><em>not</em></b> your friend, and I don't believe in <em>any</em> of it." Honora said with a dangerous growl, there was no doubt in her mind that the curse was nothing but a myth, the song was nothing but a story and the disadvantage known as love was nothing but a lie. She refused to let some stupid tale threaten her with a cave, and she was so caught up in her rage, she didn't see the odd look Katara gave her as she stood by her side, twiddling her fingers in thought. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Then you're probably going to die!" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"There's only one thing that's going to kill me. And it will <em>not </em>be that cave." The princess stated confidently, tilting her chin up with a glare as she stared at the darkness in front of her. She was not scared of a simple cave. She wasn't afraid of <em>anything. </em>Not anymore. Moku turned his head, humming under his breath cheerfully as he looked behind him, before his half-life eyes widened in suprise as he pointed to where he could see angry gray smoke rising on the horizon, taunting the bright blue of the sky with ash. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, someone's making a big campfire!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That's no campfire, Moku." Katara replied as she glared, a scowl forming on her prerty face as she moved to stand closer to Honora subconsciously, who's golden gaze had narrowed darkly as she'd stepped forward in front of the others protectively, frustration rising once again inside her because this <em>wouldn't </em>of happened if the group started to <em>actually</em> listen to her. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's Fire Nation." Sokka practically growled as he too glared at the smoke, his jaw tense and fingers itching to close around his boomerang as it got closer and closer, moving quickly and meaning they had no other choice of escape. "They're tracking us." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Aang swallowed nervously, staring into the sky and feeling like he was being cornered at every angle, hating the fact he was putting all of these people in danger, before he looked behind him, staring up at Chong who was obviously not as fussed about the danger as the rest of them were, still fiddling with the string of his instrument, and singing a song under his breath. "So all you need to do is trust in love to get through these caves?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That's is correct, Master Arrowhead." Chong confirmed with a nod, pointing towards him cheerfully, just as the Avatar turned his stare to Katara's back, watching with adoration as a gentle breeze passed them by, causing her braid to sway and her water-tribe clothes to ruffle in the gentle wind. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We can make it." Aang said with a determined smile as he looked away from Katara and back at Chong, and they all didn't waste a second before they began to clamber in one after the other, but it had been Honora who hovered at the back of the group, waiting for everyone else to file in, just in case the firenation soldiers decided to pay them a suprise, and knowing she'd be the most useful there as she finally stepped into the darkness behind them. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Appa growled lowly then gave a quiet roar of fear and agitation as he followed the group into the cave, nuzzling against the persons in front of him, who happened to be Honora, who released a rough grunt as she stumbled and spun around to glare at him, but upon seeing the fear reflecting in his intelligent eyes, let out an annoyed sigh and allowed the creature to burrow his large head under her arm the best he could, practically crawling across the ground in terror. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Don't worry you big baby, nothing's going to happen to you." </p>
</div><p>However, it seemed like the moment the words had left the Firebenders mouth the universe decided to prove her wrong as the earth around them began to rumble and shake with terrible tremors, and the group only had time to stare behind them in a moment of horror before the entrance to the cave crumbled in on itself, closing them inside the darkness as they all flinched in shock.</p><p>Honora quickly set her hand alight when she felt and heard the large bison by her side roar in fear, keeping the white flame in his line of sight so he wasn't so afraid as she patted his nose reassuringly, noticing that to the side of her Lily had lit one of the torches unnecessarily and handed it to her husband, just as Appa began to try and claw at the rocks holding them hostage frantically, groaning pitifully as she grimaced.</p><p>"Its okay, Appa. We'll be fine...I hope." Katara whispered soothingly to the large beast, placing a hand onto his side as she exchanged looks with the princess swirling her pale flame between her long fingers effortlessly, both of them thinking the exact same thing, how?</p><p>"We'll be fine. All we need is a plan." Sokka said confidently, his blue eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to think before a metathorial lightbulb lit up over his head as he turned to look at the fire-bender standing just to the side of him. "Honora, how long  an you keep that flame going?"</p><p>"Without a break? A couple of days."</p><p>"Ok- days? <em>Seriously</em>? Is that normal for Firebenders?"</p><p>"Not in the slightest." Honora smirked ominously, causing a subconscious shiver to run up his spine that he tried desperately to ignore, she really was naturally terrifying and he still didn't know whether to be relieved or, quite frankly scared out of his mind that she'd joined their group but for the moment, he was going with a rather strange mix of the two, before he turned to look at the nomads who blinked up at him. "Chong, what about you guys? How long will those torches last?"</p><p>"Uh, about two hours." He replied breezily, looking up at the torch in hand with an easy-going shrug that set the teens teeth on edge. Lily nodded seriously beside him, a smile of her face as she did a quick calculation, but no one expected her to be as <em>stupid </em>to drag all of the torches in her hand across the rough floor and light them <em>all</em> up. "And we have five torches so that's ten hours!"</p><p>Honora's golden eyes went wide before they narrowed into slits as she lifted her free hand and clenched her pale and trembling fist, extinguishing the flames that Lily held with ease and not seeing the Avatars awed look as she did so. "It doesn't work like that if you light them all at the same time!"</p><p>"Oh...right."</p><p>"Idiots...I'm surrounded by idiots." She snapped, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, but quickly letting go with a grunt as she felt a sharp and quick zapping like pain, unaware that her fingers had been sparking with blue currents as she practically gave herself the equivalent of a static shock, staring up at the ceiling and, once again, begging whatever spirit was listening to give her strength.</p><p>"Look, I'm going to make a map exactly where we've been, that way we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through." Sokka said, nodding more to himself than anyone else, crawling up Appa to rummage through their bags where he collected a few spare scrolls and, without even looking behind him to make sure they were all listening, began walking further into the cave, jotting down onto it with determined eyes as they all slowly followed after him.</p><p>However...the longer they walked around the cave, the more strange it appeared as Sokka continued to lead them everywhere and anywhere, dead-ends, cave-ins ect ect until they finally stood in front of another wall of rock that had the water-triber scratching his head in confusion, twisting his map and turning it to the side to bring it closer to him in confusion.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Sokka, this is the <em>tenth</em> dead end you've led us to." Katara commented in vague exasperation as she looked at her brother then the wall of rocks in front of them in distaste, feeling a certain swell of hopelessness settle inside her the longer they spent stuck here, unaware that the fire-bender who'd been standing by her side had strolled away after catching something out of the corner of her eye. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This doesn't make sense." Sokka grumbled in annoyance, reaching up to scratch at his forehead and ignoring the sweat plastered across his skin. "We already came through this way!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That's not possible."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No, he's right, look over there. That's where your little creature left his droppings." Honora said coming to the boys defence, bringing the groups attention over to her as she crouched down into a corner with narrowed eyes, bringing her fire closer to the ground so they could all see the little balls left by Momo who squeaked in responce, hiding behind his large ears embarrassed. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Thankyou</em>, Honora. At least <em>someone </em>here doesn't think I'm an idiot." Sokka said, aiming a glare over to his sister who shrugged unapologetically, but the princess only frowned over at him, raising her brows in responce. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, no, I think you're an idiot." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We don't need a map." Chong stated as Sokka stomped past them all and began pacing around the group in obvious frustration, racking his brain for any sort of answer as Honora finally stood up, still rather far from the group as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We just need love. The little guy knows it...though the big gal...not so much. "</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"There's something strange here. And there's only one explanation." Sokka said finally as he pulled his map away from his face, ignoring the conversation that had happened just a mere moment ago as his pacing came to a stop, before he turned to face group once again, rarely serious as his blue gaze flickered around them all. "The tunnels are changing."</p>
</div><p>No one even had a chance to question his analysis, because the earth suddenly began to shake once more, the cave walls rattling, the floor underneath them rumbling and cracking as dust started to drift down from the ceiling above them, everyone's eyes going wide with shock and horror as they all tried to keep themselves steady.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"The tunnels, they're a-changin' It must be the curse!" Chong said frantically as everything finally settled down, the older man putting his large hands against the side of his head as he shook it left and right, his wide and wild eyes flickering around the cave fearfully, as if expecting something to jump out at him. "I knew we shouldn't have come down here."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Right, if only we listened to you…" Sokka snarked sarcastically as he paused to glare at the older man over his shoulder, moving to stand next to Honora who had stopped to help the Avatar stand up after he'd slipped and fallen absentmindnessly, until a strange noise circled around her ear causing it to twitch against her head as she froze. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Everyone be quiet." Katara said, grabbing everyone's attention as she narrowed her eyes, staring up at the fire-bender who nodded her head, assuring the girl that she'd heard it too as she turned her body to look out into the darkness in front of her suspiciously, twisting her hands and causing them to catch alight with her dangerous white flame as she crouched down slightly. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>And sure enough, they didn't have to wait long for the elusive creature responsible for the noise to show itself, as it suddenly flew out of the shadows and towards the group with a screech, causing everyone to fall back and begin to panic, Honora didn't even have time to try and attack it, as the flying lemur decided that <em>she</em> was the safest option and flung itself onto her head, chattering nervously as she stumbled. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's giant flying thing with teeth!" Chong yelped in panic, throwing himself against a wall away from the rabid creature as it screeched hauntingly. But surprisingly enough it was one of the nomads who recognised the creature with mounting horror. "No!" Moku called out as the creature landed on the ground, "It's wolfbat!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The wolfbat leapt into the air again and began flying around the group, snarling aggressively at them as it looked for the best prey, to which Sokka swatted at the creature with the lit torch in a frenzy as it flew towards him and Katara, but the creature only just managed to knock the torch out of his hand, causing it to soar through the air and land on Appa's front paw who roared in pain, beginning to run around the tunnel in panic, until he accidentally hit one of the walls and released a discharge of rocks and debris. </p>
</div><p>"Honora! Look <b>out</b>!"</p><p>The fire-bender heard someone cry as she finally dislodged Momo from her face, and her attention snapped up to the ceiling where a load of heavy looking boulders began to tumble down to where she stood, but before she had the chance to try and knock them away, she felt lithe arms wrap around her waist as she was tackled to the floor, skidding across the ground with a grunt, but she didn't even look to see who it was as she twisted her body so she was on top, taking the brunt of the still falling debris with a growl until the dust settled ominously.</p><p>Honora slowly opened her eyes, just to find Katara staring back at her, their faces so close that their noses were brushing together, causing the water-benders face to blush a dark pink as she stared up at her before they both slowly turned their gazes to the wall of rock in front of them that Appa was still pawing it fruitlesly, grumbling and groaning in fear and anxiety.</p><p>They were trapped...again.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Katara had tried to remain hopeful for the first hour for the strange group of three wandering through the tunnels, but between Appa's continuous pitiful whining in which he kept trying to bury himself under Honora's arm who'd sigh and allow it, and the Firebenders dangerous glare as she stalked across the ground, she'd quickly given up of being the <em>only </em>optimistic one there because it obviously wasn't working.</p><p>Instead, no matter how hard she tried to keep her gaze staring steadily in front of her to look for a way out, her blue eyes were <em>always </em>dragged back over to the large flame Honora was holding in the palm of her hand effortlessly. In all honesty, she hadn't given much thought to the princesses fire, just knew it was hot and, knowing Honora, an obviously skilled form, but now that they were relying on it for their <em><b>only</b></em> form of sight, she couldn't help but be memeorised by it.</p><p>Because what she originally thought to just be pure and powerful white flame, in fact, flickered and danced with streaks of pale blue and gold, hardly noticeable in the light but here, standing out against the blinding darkness around them, the fascinating colours were easy to notice. It other words, Honora's fire was one of the most prettiest things she'd ever seen in her short life and she wasn't really happy about the fact.</p><p>The princess was an enigma that Katara was desperate to solve, because how could someone be both good and evil and not give either option a second thought? She'd killed those benders at the northern water-tribe without a care, and yet a few minutes prior, she'd tried to save the moon spirit without anyone trying to convince her. Honora did too much good to be considered evil, however, with the same breath, she did too much bad to ever, truly be considered good and Katara had <em>no </em>idea why she found that so frustrating.</p><p>"Blue-eyes. Look." Honora's raspy voice suddenly grabbed her attention as she jerked her chin over to what looked like a solid rock door at the end of the tunnel, and just the sight of it caused Katara's eyes to light up in excitement as she quickly ran toward it, her small hand pressing against it as she looked around it, looking for any sort of opening. "It could be the exit!"</p><p>"Or it could be a trap." Honora said nonchalantly, walking over to the girl as she quirked a brow and brought her fire closer for inspection, humming under her breath as the water-bender twirled around to shoot her a glare, her hands quickly swiping away from the rough stone just in case she was right. "Do you always have to be such a pessimist?"</p><p>"Do <b><em>you</em></b> always have to be such an optimist?"</p><p>The two stared each other down, before Katara blinked first and turned her head to look back over at what she was <em>hoping</em> was the exist, pressing a hesitant hand back onto the cool stone and giving it a hard shove, just to see if it had any give but obviously not getting any result, causing her to frown and exchange a look with the fire-bender who was leaning over her shoulder. "How are we going to get it open?"</p><p>"I could try and kick it down?"</p><p>However, before the princess could test just how far her own strength went, she heard a rather loud and dramatic grunt coming from behind her as Appa pawed at the ground, kicking up dust as he jerked his large head to the side, Honora and Katara exchanging looks just before they leaped away as the large bison charged and rammed his head into it, the circular door of rock creaking as it was forcefully pushed open then it rolled off to the side.</p><p>"Remind me to not get on your bad side, huh big guy?" Honora said obviously impressed, patting Appa's nose with the hand that wasn't set alight which made the large creature groan happily at the praise, while Katara didn't waste a second to jump through the open doorway, as her hopeful look quickly diminished as she stared ahead of her in horror.</p><p>"This isn't an exit...its a tomb."</p><p>Honora's head jerked up at the words and she quickly followed after the water-bender with the large bison just behind her, holding her bright flames up higher so they could see the whole of the room that had suddenly been filled with a rather heavy feeling as her golden gaze flickered, before she shook her head and  walked down from the platform they had been standing on, moving towards the two stone sarcophaguses in the middle of the room with Katara.</p><p>"The two lovers from the song." Katara murmured softly, staring ahead of her mournfully. "They must be who's buried here."</p><p>"It was just a song, blue-eyes."</p><p>"Songs tell a story...and so do those pictures." The water-bender stated just as her eyes wandered across the panels that circled around their tombs, moving her hand to wrap around Honora's gauntlet-covered wrist to bring the light closer absentmindnessly, unaware of the firebenders dangerous glare as she did so, or perhaps even ignoring it as she began to read aloud.</p><p>"<em>They met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages, but the villages were enemies so they could not be together, but their love was strong and they </em><em>found</em><em> a way...</em><em>The two </em><em>lovers</em><em> learned earthbending from the bagermole and because the first </em><em>Earthbenders</em><em>, they built elaborate tunnels so they could meet secretly, while anyone that tried to follow them would be lost forever...but one day, the man didn't come...</em></p><p>
  <em>H</em>
  <em>e'd died in </em>
  <em>the war</em>
  <em> between the two villages and devastated, the woman displayed a </em>
  <em>devastating</em>
  <em> display of her earthbending power, she could of </em>
  <em>destroyed</em>
  <em> them all but instead she declared the war over and both villages helped her build a new city where they'd live together in </em>
  <em>peace</em>
  <em>. The woman's name was Oma, and the man's name was Shu...and the great city Omashu was named as a monument to their love." </em>
</p><p>Katara's eyes went wide, as she finally finished the story, leaning back and away from the panels, allowing Honora to yank her arm back who did so with a grimace as the water-bender turned to stare up at where the carving of the tragic couple kissing lay, eyes once more zeroing in on the inscription on the wall with gentle, almost tear-filled eyes. "<em>Love is brightest in the dark." </em></p><p>It was quiet for a few moments as they absorbed the story, before Honora breathed in a quick sniff of very dusty air as she rolled her golden eyes, moving her hand around her to try and spot anywhere they could somehow manage to escape out of, thin walls for the bison to bash in, another secret doorway, all that sort of thing. "Fascinating...but not exactly helpful."</p><p>"What? You don't think that <em>that </em>story meant something?" Katara snapped, spinning around and finally tearing her eyes away to instead glare up at Honora who barely even spared her a glance, continuing to walk around the room and pushed her flames into crevices for any sign of a clue on how to get out but unable to find one, causing her brows to furrow in obvious confusion as she replied over her shoulder offhandly. "Other than what I already know? No."</p><p>"Oh, and what do you already know, Honora the great and wise."</p><p>"That love is for <b><em>fools.</em></b>" The fire-bender spat, finally turning around the face the girl with a threatening glint passing over her dark eyes, warning Katara to leave the conversation there, but since when did Katara listen to people trying to tell her what do do as she crossed her arms over her chest with a frown. "How can you say that?"</p><p>"Pretty easily."</p><p>"You don't <em>really</em> believe that do you? Love is one of the most beautiful things, it's one of the only things we can <em>actually</em> hold onto in this war!" The water-bender shouted, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation and ignoring the large bison as he groaned anxiously, looking between the two benders in fear as they continued to argue without a care in the world, glaring at each other angrily, tensions high and the room begging to simmer with heat.</p><p>"It makes you <em><b>weak</b></em>."</p><p>"It can also make you strong!" Katara yelled back and Honora didn't even try to stop the disbelieving laugh that slipped through her parted lips, pale hand clenched tightly by her side and shaking with a certain kind of rage that she tried to stop as she gestured over to the tombs by the side of them, raising her brows mockingly. "If you truly believe that then you are even more <em>foolish</em> then I realised. Look at the story you've just told for your proof."</p><p>"Love doesn't always end in tradgety, Honora!"</p><p>"Yes. Yes it does."</p><p>"How can you have such an awful opinion about love when you've never even experienced it?!"<br/>And then Honora gave her a look. One <em>single</em> <b><em>look</em></b> that told her everything, without those red-painted lips even having to open and it was just like that, that all the fight inside Katara disappeared, her hands lowering by her side as she stared up at her.</p><p>"<em>Oh</em>."</p><p>The '<em>you have</em>' was silent, but was plain to hear through the <em>piercing</em> silence as Honora turned her face back towards the tombs, and from a strangers view, they could say the conversation hadn't affected her, that she was the same cold-hearted bender that was known and feared. But Katara <em>knew</em> better. The girls pale jaw was so tense, it looked like it could snap at any moment, the tendons is her neck straining and her golden eyes, usually so unresponsive, were clouded with <em>emotion</em>.</p><p>"Honora, I'm so sorr-"</p><p>"<em><b>Don't</b></em>."</p><p>It was silent for a few tense moments, and Katara couldn't help it, she couldn't stop the question that slipped through her lips as she remembered Zhao's words, about the serving girl Honora had been caught kissing and knowing, somehow <em>knowing </em>that's that who had shown the fire-bender love...and had paid for it. "What happened?"</p><p>And at first, Honora didn't answer because why should she? It was a stupid story that meant nothing to her, and yet her chest felt strangely tight, her shoulders stiff as if the weight of the world had suddenly been placed upon them and her throat aching just as the mere thought because yes, love <em>was </em>for fools, and once upon a time, she'd been the biggest fool of them all to believe she'd ever get an happy ending.</p><p>"...I had to be perfect." She began, without even giving it a second thought, not really knowing why she was telling Katara this, but it started to slip out all the same, almost without her permission. "..I was the firenation's princess, their weapon...The monster that they'd tell their future children stories about. Darkness and destruction made flesh...And when my father found out that I was doing something so-, so <em>disgusting</em> and <em>unnatural</em>, he had to make sure I'd <b>never</b> want to slip again."</p><p>Honora looked up at the carving of the couple kissing and could only scoff as it changed shape, changed image as she blinked and was staring up at a cruel mockery of herself and Karai in their own version of the embrace, shaking her head to push the image away. "I knew I could take whatever punishment he gave me. I was stronger than him, I was stronger than everyone and I walked into that throne room so confident, so brave, so assured he wouldn't break me...So <b><em>stupid</em></b>."</p><p>"I opened those doors, and there she was. <b><em>Burning</em></b>."</p><p>Katara gasped, covering her mouth with her hands as her eyes watered, staring up at the princess in horror who's golden eyes had clenched shut, trying desperately to push away the smell of burning flesh and melting skin to the back of her mind where it remained dormant, because if she allowed herself even a minute to think about it, she was scared the sanity she tried to keep in place would crumble, the flame in her hand flickering between white and <em><b>blue</b></em><em><b>. </b></em></p><p>"Honora, I'm so sorry-"</p><p>"Don't be. There's nothing you can do, obviously, it was a long time ago." She said nonchalantly, shaking herself out of it and pushing the water-bender away just as quickly as she'd let her in, turning her back to look towards the tunnels once more, realizing that they probably had to decide which one to take if tthey wanted to make it out alive, her eyes going blank, looking empty and dead once more as she pushed her pain down.  Still, it seemed Katara wasn't done. "But, you-"</p><p>"I don't want to talk about it anymore..<em>.Please</em>."</p><p>"...okay." Katara whispered softly, because as much as the water-bender would deny it, the pain she'd felt radiating from that single '<em>please</em>' had shaken her to her very core, as the suffocating silence filled the space once more because what was she even <em>supposed</em> to say, until she cleared her throat, and looked around at the darkness surrouning them with a critical eye. "I uh, I think I have an idea, by the way."</p><p>Honora quirked a brow and turned to face her once more, gesturing towards her with a nod, giving her to go ahead as the water-bender hesitated, playing with the end of her braid almost nervously. "I think you should let your flames die out, at least just for a minute."</p><p>"What? Why?"</p><p>"Well the whole, 'love is brightest in the dark', it might be a clue or something."</p><p>The princess quickly rolled her golden eyes with a scowl, seeing that what she'd told her had went in one ear and out the other, but Katara had instantly moved forward before the taller girl could say anything, moving closer and staring up at her earnestly until her dark hand brushed against Honora's. "I'm not asking you to trust in love, I won't do that to you, but I am asking you to trust in me...I can love enough for the <b><em>both</em></b> of <em>us</em>."</p><p>Then there was a moment, just a single moment where the two stared at each other, the flickering flames held in Honora's trembling hand making shadows dance across their faces distractionly, until Katara broke the gaze first by looking towards the floor. "Please, just...just do it. I mean what's the worse that can happen anyway, right?"</p><p>And, after a second of hesitation, the princess sighed and extinguished the flames calmly, not expecting anything to happen really but, as she'd mentioned before, the universe loved to prove her wrong, because at the exact moment the flames had been stuffed out, a stunning green glow took its place as from the ceiling, rather large crystals shone down upon them.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"They're crystals that most only light up in the dark! That's how the two lovers found each other." Katara exclaimed as she then gestured along the ceiling with her hand. "They just put out their lights and followed them, which means-" Her eyes shined with excitement as she looked at the tunnel the crystal trail led towards with a relief-filled grin. "-That <em>that </em>must be the way out!"</p>
</div><p><br/>"You've got to be kidding me. It was a <em>metaphor</em>?" Honora snapped, glaring up at the shining no good rocks as if they were the bane of her existence, and Katara couldn't help herself as she stared up at the taller girls indignant face, a loud laugh slipping through her lips without her permission, causing the Firebenders gaze to snap over to her, watching as she laughed without a care, before she let out a dry chuckle to join her.</p><p>"Yeah, I suppose it's rather funny."</p><p>"Your <em>face</em>." Katara giggled as the princess rolled her eyes with a small grin, wrapping her fingers around the shaking girls wrist and began to lead them down the trail, hearing Appa come up behind them groaning happily and nuzzling the top of their heads as he took the lead, running through the tunnel as he smelled fresh air and leaving the two benders to run after him with a curse, existing the cave just in time to find the bison rolling around on the ground outside.</p><p>Honora flexed her fingers, trying to release the tension in the tense muscles of her hand, her golden eyes content as the light wind traced the skin of her cheeks pleasantly, before Katara gasped loudly, turning back to look at the cave in horror as she remembered something important.</p><p>"What about Sokka and Aang?" And no sooner had the words left her lips, they heard a sudden rumbling coming from the mountain as the walls on either side of the exist exploded and a <em>bagermole </em>crawled out, causing Honora to push the water-bender behind her protectively, hand sparking with blue currents as she prepared herself to take the large creature <b><em>down </em></b>until she noticed the familar figures resting atop it's back.</p><p>"Sokka! Aang!" Katara yelled, just as the Avatar jumped down from the bagermoles back by bending the air around him to cushion his landing and practically launching himself in the older girls arms, squeezing each other tightly and laughing in relief at finding the other safe and sound, and Sokka scaled down one of the beasts arms behind them, his eyes set on Honora who nodded over at him.</p><p>"How did you guys get out?"</p><p>"...I don't want to talk about it." Honora replied, crossing her arms over her chest with a grimace as Katara laughed once more, blue eyes shining in the sun as a grin stretched over her face, happy to have their small group reunited and together once more, all of them choosing to  ignore the nomads as they struggled down their own bagermoles. "Fair enough. We let huge ferocious beasts lead our way out."</p><p>They all turned, the majority of them waving at the bagermoles as they crawled back into their home, groaning loudly as they bent the earth and a wall of rock closed them in, causing a burst of dust to settle over the group who quickly wafted it away with a cough, and the second they were out of view, Sokka pulled his sister into a hug, swinging her around happily while Aang sped off to talk to the nomads.</p><p>"Why's your forehead all red, ponytail? Your face looks like a hog-monkeys ass." Honora said, leaning in closer for inspection as Katara giggled, thinking that the observation had been spot on as Sokka glared at the two, and their question was quickly answered as Chong moved closer to them inconspicuously, his mouth right by the water-tribers ear. "Nobody react to what I'm about to tell you, but I think that kid might be the Avatar."</p><p>And the Firebenders left eye twitched just in time with Sokka as he slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead in frustration, enlarging the red spot violently. Before they all said their goodbyes (all secretly relieved) to the strange nomads that had temporarily joined them as they became a colourful dot in the distance where their singing could no longer irritate Honora's sensitive ears as they, themselves, began to walk up the mountainside.</p><p>"Now, not that <em>that </em>wasn't fun, but if you ever force me to to do something like that again, I'll leave and take my chances with the earth-kingdom."</p><p>"Don't worry, Honora, we don't need to take any more detours. The journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it's all about: the destination. I present you the Earth Kingdom city of O-" Sokka started to say as they finally reached the top of the mountain only to pause abruptly, his face shifting into a horrified expression just as quickly as he stared down ahead of him. "Oh no…"</p><p>And then the others quickly lurched up to see what he was seeing, hoping it to be some sort of prank, only for their faces to drop in dismay and terror while Honora's golden eyes clenched shut in frustration. It seemed the firenation was moving their plan along for world domination alot faster that she'd originally thought, as staring back up at them was the great city of Omashu...with the entrance to the city draped with the firenation flag. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"That's a child."</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>The over whelming smell of </b><b>thick</b><b>, pungent smoke washed over her, the </b><b>stench</b> <b>so strong it almost made her eyes water as her golden stare tracked over what was once called the city of Omashu. </b>Dark clouds of ash assaulting the sky above, and whatever horrors that were becoming the people down below were unseen to her, but she could only imagine that it wasn't pretty. Earthbenders and Firebenders were more offensive than defensive, and whenever the two clashed, <em>destruction</em> and <em>death</em> were sure to follow.</p><p>"I can't believe it." Aang whispered in horrified awe to the side of her as he looked over the fallen city, looking like he'd physically had the breath taken from his lungs which she supposed was rather ironic considering. He was obviously distraught, his shaking fingers clenching around his staff, before he looked over at the siblings standing behind them.</p><p>"I know the War has spread far, but Omashu always seemed...<em>untouchable</em>."</p><p>"Everything breaks if enough force is applied to it, Avatar." Honora told him, looking back over towards the city with a frown, and resisting the urge to sigh in frustration because it meant they were going to have to look for <em>another </em>teacher to teach him, meaning they were going to have to take more detours and in general, waste more time that they <em>didn't </em>have. But she didn't air those frustrations out loud, even she had <em>some </em>sort of social awareness to know that her complaints wouldn't be welcomed at that moment in time.</p><p>"This is horrible." Katara whispered sadly, eyes watering as she stood between the two powerful benders, chest aching at the thought of all the innocent people imprisoned there, but knowing, <em>knowing </em>that there was nothing they could do. "But we have to move on. I'm sorry."</p><p>"<b>No</b>." Aang said dramatically, not even turning to look at any of them as he moved forward, grey eyes narrowed in determination and the only sound he was able to hear was his heart pounding inside his chest, looking at the destruction heavily weighing down upon him, his intentions already clear as he began to make his decent.</p><p>"I'm going in to find Bumi."</p><p>However, he didn't get very far before Sokka moved after him, waving his arm and trying to make the young boy see sense. "Aang, stop! We don't even know if Bumi's still-"</p><p>"What?" The Avatar demanded angrily, words spat out through surprisingly gritted teeth as he turned to glare at the older boy, his yellow collar flapping in the sudden wind that had Honora tensing in place, eyes narrowed and keeping her attention onto him, waiting for the moment he began to <em>glow.</em> "If he's still what?"</p><p>"A-around." Sokka stuttered in response and rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, not knowing how to break it to him that there was a good chance his friend was no longer, well, alive. Because the Earthbender had been powerful, very powerful, and he doubted he would of let Omashu been taken without a fight.</p><p>Thankfully, he didn't have to struggle for long, as Honora stepped forwards, face a mask of indifference as she stared the arrowed boy down, who switched his glare up to her, as if already knowing what she was about to say. "Think rationally about this Avatar. There is <em>nothing</em> you can do."</p><p>"We won't know unless we try." Aang snapped back just as quickly, desperation and determination swelling inside him to make a rather strange concoction of emotion as he fingers clenched tight around his staff, looking towards the water-tribe siblings with begging eyes, hoping one of them would come to his defence, hoping one of them would understand. He didn't have much of his old life left...just Appa, just himself, and he wasn't willing to loose Bumi too.</p><p>However, his wish went undeterred as Katara stepped towards him, laying an comforting hand on his shoulder as she ducked her head to meet his gaze, an apology in her eyes as she practically whispered. "I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people who can teach you earthbending."</p><p>"This isn't about finding a teacher. It's about finding my friend."</p><p>"Avatar, if you go in there you won't like what you find. That city was taken by force, and that means it won't look pretty." Honora warned, mind flashing back to the war stories she'd be told about when she was younger, and the horrors she'd been forced to watch while she was older. War was always such a disgusting place of bloodshed and death, and she had very serious doubt that the firenation had been gentle when they took over the fallen city.</p><p>"I have to find Bumi."</p><p>"At what cost? You'll only just be adding on to the body count."</p><p>"I'm not going to kill anyone, Honora."</p><p>"I'm not saying that <em>you </em>would. But I am not going to be the one who does just to save an old man who is probably already dead, Avatar." She snarled dangerously low, because while they were arguing they were just <em>wasting </em>more time, there was no point to this, there was never any point in saving what is already dead.</p><p>"You don't have to kill anyone either!"</p><p>Honora scoffed, a low sounding noise that came from the very back of her throat, knowing that once again, the risk wasn't worth it, and that they'd be going into that territory to literally save a dead man, no matter how much the Avatar hoped for the opposite, and the truth of the matter being that she'd be the one forced to stain her pale hands with blood and ash because she knew that the others couldn't. They were good, while she was nothing but a monster they could hide behind, just like she <b><em>always</em></b> was.</p><p>"You can't really think that you'll be able to take out a whole <em>army </em>for <em>one </em>man? <em>Y</em>ou aren't that powerful yet, even with the Avatar state-"</p><p>"You are! We can do <em>something </em>if you help me."</p><p>"What are you talk-"</p><p>"You're one of the most powerful benders I've ever met. Are you really telling me that there is <em>no</em> way for us to do something?" Aang said, staring up at her in an earnest fashion, grey eyes wide as she stepped back in shock, staggering away as if she'd physically taken a blow before her face transformed back into her blank mask of indifference, but inside, she was <em>screaming.</em></p><p>Honora blinked, barely moving and still struggling to comprehend what he'd said because she was completely and utterly <em>floored</em> by the confidence. His confidence that, for some odd reason, had him believing in her, not just to kill someone that needed to be taken out when he didn't want to get his hands dirty, not to protect them while they ran for cover or anything of the sort but to <em><b>help</b></em> him <em>help </em>others, because the truth was, no one had ever seen her for anything other than a weapon.</p><p>She opened her mouth to finally reply to the boy, but no words came out, seemingly dying, scratching against the walls of her throat but not making a single sound, in fact, it felt like her whole body was frozen as she stared down at those imploring, almost <em>begging </em>grey eyes of the Avatar, and closed her own in frustration, turning her back to glare over the city of Omashu with a calculating look on her sharp features.</p><p>Because at the end of the day, there will not be alot of things they'd be able to do for the City, except perhaps quench her curiosity on over <em>who'd </em>been able to pass over its defences. But, the fact of the matter was, if she did help the Avatar, perhaps it would make things alot easier with them in the long run. An alliance would only go so far, but trust? Trust was a much <em>more</em> <em><b>stronger</b></em> force.</p><p>"You've been here before right?"</p><p>"Yes." Aang replied slowly, squinting his eyes up at her in confusion as she turned to face him, arms crossed over her chest and dark brows raised in question as she looked over him calmly.</p><p>"Is there another way in? Somewhere that no Firebender would be able to find." Honora asked, and could only watch as the realisation hit the boy that she was going to help him, watching as his entire face lit up like some sort of beacon, eyes shining and whole body raising before he gave a quick jumbled nod and shot down the hill, not even waiting for them as Katara yelled his name and quickly followed after him, Appa and Momo in tow and leaving the two older teens still looking over the fallen city in distaste.</p><p>"You're really going along with this? What happened to you being all like, '<em>we need no more detours</em>' and '<em>we don't have time for this</em>'." Sokka tried to impersonate the deep and rough, almost <em>pur</em>r like quality to her voice, but it only ended up making him cough, voice breaking off into a unfortunate squeak causing him to quickly rub his throat, face flushing in embarrassment.</p><p>Honora tilted her head to the side, fingers sparking with pale blue currents that had the air feeling taunt with tension as she stared at the firenation insignia, chest filled with a rather strange mixture of hatred and longing before she shook her head.</p><p>"The Avatar is going to do this with or without our help... And this will be over <em>alot </em>faster if we do things <b><em>my</em></b> way."</p><p>"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Sokka said cautiously, but Honora only smirked at him slyly, golden eyes alight with a certain kind of <em>threat</em>, before she laid a rather taunting pat on his shoulder as she strolled past him, following after the Avatar and the others with her mind racing a mile per minute, because they had to be smart about this, well, <em>she </em>had to be smart about this anyway.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Okay, perhaps she was a little too quick to suggest a secret passage way, <em>perhaps </em>it would be alot easier to a actually fight their way into the fallen city to find the Avatar's friend, because there was absolutely <em>no </em><b>way </b>in hell, spirit world, or on this earth that she was crawling into the sewer hole that the Avatar was currently trying to open with his staff while Appa floated alongside the small ridge they resided on, groaning.</p><p>"Why didn't we use this last time?" Sokka asked, shrugging his shoulders up into the air as his mind flashed back to their first, rather disastrous trip.</p><p>But Honora, who was still physically holding her sensitive nose and wincing in obvious discomfort, answered that question rather quickly, her eyes dark and stormy in agitation as she glared over at him like he was the biggest idiot of the whole of the <em>earth</em>. "Are you <em>nose</em> blind, ponytail? Burned <em>corpses </em>smell better than this."</p><p>"How do you know- actually, <em><b>please</b></em> don't answer that."</p><p>And finally, the Avatar managed to find a crack into the closed off entrance and with one last grunt, flipped the lid open and allowing thick, disgusting looking gunge to pour out of it like a waterfall, and it seemed that only the Princess was smart enough to move out of the way by leaping up onto the wall as the gross concoction of shit, piss and others things splattered all over the water-tribers shoes as they squealed.</p><p>"I'm not getting in there." Honora instantly snapped, keeping herself stuck to the wall and looking rather green around the gills as Aang and Sokka slipped into the tunnel without complaint, shaking her head from side to side as she heard the older boy gag because if <em>he </em>thought something smelled worse than his socks, then it meant it <em>really </em>smelled bad.</p><p>"Honora-" Katara began, a small smile quirking up at the corner of her lips without her permission as she watched the Princess act like...well, like a <em>princess, </em>but she was quickly interrupted as the tall girl glared at her, snarling like an animal.</p><p>"Absolutely not. I don't plan on staining my clothes <em>or </em>my skin with that s<em>t</em><em>ench." </em></p><p>The water-bender paused for a moment, trying to think of a way to get her into the tunnel, preferably without the girl managing to burn it down it an rage, before a metathorial lightbulb lit up over her head and she smiled up at Honora reassuringly, twisting her hands and splitting the gunge in two to form a perfect pathway.</p><p>"You won't, okay? Just stand close behind me and I'll bend it away from both of us."</p><p>Honora narrowed her eyes, dropping down from her perch to take a suspicious look inside the tunnel, and after considering it, decided that yes, it would probably have to do, turning to shoot a smirk over at Katara that felt very hollow indeed. "My, my, <em>someone</em> really has come a long way from barely being able to bend a cup of water."</p><p>Unfortunately, she didn't get the reaction she wanted as Blue-eyes ignored her, marching into the secret passage without so much of a backward glance to make sure the fire-bender was following her, who did so with a final groan of discomfort, pulling her oversized green shirt off to wrap around the lower half of her face to help with the smell, the tops of her biceps now being the only skin visible thanks to her gauntlets as she stumbled in.</p><p>The four teens proceed through the tunnel quietly, each and everyone of them trying to ignore just <em>what </em>they were walking through with Aang conjuring airballs with his staff to clear a path while Katara used Waterbending to carefully maneuver the sewage around her and Honora, her breath hitching for a moment as she felt the Firebenders heat radiating across her back. However, Sokka, on the other hand most definitely got the short end of the stick, as he was continuously soaked in the foul substance since he was unable to bend it away from him.</p><p>Once they had reached the end of the sewer, it was Aang that decided to make sure the coast was clear, using a blast of air to loosen the sewer lid which he then held up slightly, his large grey eyes peaking out through the gap and after a few tense moments, seemed it safe enough, tossed the lid to the side and used his bending once more to propel himself out, Katara following after him quickly.</p><p>"That wasn't as bad as I thought." She commented happily, inspecting the hem of her tunic to find only a few stains, Honora, standing just beside her, pulled her shirt from her nose and mouth finally to rest it around her neck like a scarf, breathing in the fresh air with the visible muscle of her biceps bulging as she shot the water-bender a strange look who flushed slightly but met her gaze evenly.</p><p>"Seriously, what is <em>wrong </em>with you?"</p><p>"I've lived with Sokka for sixteen years, I'm pretty much immune to bad smells." Katara deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest and jutting her hip out to the side as Aang covered his mouth to giggle into his hand at his friends expense.</p><p>"Fair enough."</p><p>And funnily enough, as if to further her point, Sokka finally crawled his way out of the manhole, completely covered in the disgusting sludge and smelling so strong that the whole groups eyes watered as they all physically took steps away from him, trying to distance themselves the best they could as he groaned, shuffling towards them with his arms outstretched.</p><p>"Ponytail, you better watch yourself."</p><p>Honora instantly snapped, practically falling over herself in an effort to get away, her eyes narrowed into slits as Katara quickly stepped in front of her, bending the water from a nearby barrel and, without hesitation, <em>launching </em>it at her brother, soaking him and washing away the slime from his body. Then Aang swung his staff, blasting a gust of air towards the older boy and drying him off with ease...but there still seemed to be something wrong with him. And the Firebenders brows rose nearly to her hairline when she saw the purple pentapi attached to his face.</p><p>Sokka stared at the three blankly for a moment, obviously confused by the disgusted looks on their faces, before a scream ripped itself from his throat as he felt something <em>sucking</em> on his face, slamming his hands against the creatures and viciously trying to pull them away only for them to <em>stay </em>firmly planted onto his skin. "Ahh! They won't let go! Help!"</p><p>The fire-bender did no such thing, laughing at his misfortune and slapping her knee, enjoying his pain as the Avatar lunged towards him, knocking his back into a wall with a rather aggressive tackle, though his face held some light amusement. "Shh! Stop making so much noise. It's <em>just</em> a purple pentapus."</p><p>"I'll get them off."</p><p>Honora finally broke away from her laughing fit, her cheeks lightly flushed just for her sai's to shoot out from her gauntlets, twirling around her fingers before firmly planting themselves into the warm skin of her palms, lips twitching up into a sly grin at the look of fear in Sokka's eyes as he hid behind the Avatar, clutching onto his orange robes with a trembling bottom lip.</p><p>"Aang, I'm scared."</p><p>"That won't be necessary, Honora." The Avatar said, reaching forward and rubbing one of the pentapus's head gently and then doing the same to the other pentapus on the other side of Sokka's face, causing both creatures to pop right off and leave bright red welts on his usually unblemished skin as he sighed in relief and quickly removed the pentapus on his neck, rubbing his cheek vigorously.</p><p>"Hey!"</p><p>They all turned around to find three guards moving towards them, Honora quickly lifting her shirt once more to cover the bottom of her face while Aang hid behind the siblings to conceal his tattoos, but just as the Firebenders hand began to <em>spark </em>with blue currents, tingling with electrical energy to take them out, Katara had pushed herself forwards to wrap her hand around hers, wincing at the pain of what could only be described as a <em>powerful </em>static shock but refusing to let go and ignoring the look the taller girl gave her.</p><p>"What are you kids doing out past curfew?" The lead guard demanded as he and the other two stopped a few feet away, staring at them in suspicious fashion that set Honora's <em>teeth </em>on edge, wanting desperately to leave no witnesses but, as if knowing what was rushing through her mind, Katara squeezed her hard in warning, smiling a pretty fake smile towards them apologetically.</p><p>"Sorry, we were just on our way home." She said, and barely even giving them time to digest her answer, began pulling Honora away from them, with Aang and Sokka following just behind them.</p><p>"Wait!" The lead guard yelled suddenly, his eyes narrowed in curiosity and appreciation as he noticed the rather strange red spots on the back of the older boy's neck. "What's the matter with him."</p><p>"He had pentapox, it's a highly contagious disease that attacks the lungs. We both have it unfortunately. Probably won't even last the week. " Honora didn't even <em>hesitate, </em>putting on a rather believable voice that croaked and groaned as if like a old hag, shakily pointing with her free hand to gesture towards her shirt wrapped around her face, aware of the three teens standing next to her sending her their impressed glances as the guards physically backed away from them.</p><p>Because <em>hey</em>, if she didn't get to hurt them, psychologically scaring them was the next best thing.</p><p>Sokka blinked up at the guards in front of them, and upon deciding that he <em>really </em>wanted to sell the fact he was <em>obviously </em>dying, changed his expression into one of pure <b>agony</b> as he desperately clutched at his face, shrieking and moaning as he staggered towards him, winking at Honora as he stumbled past her. "Oh, it's so awful. I'm <em>dying</em>."</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Hey, I think I heard of pentapox!" One of the guard said quite suddenly, his eyes lighting up in recognition as he took another step away from the four teens, grabbing on to the guard by his side as he started to drag them away, not that they needed much persuasion as they looked at the sickly looking boy practically crawling towards them. "Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"</p>
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  <p>"We'd better go wash our hands and burn our clothes." The lead guard squealed, obviously horrified by the tale and without further ado, the firenation guards were off, leaving the three teens staring after them in shock that it had worked while Honora shook her head in disgust, what kind of soldiers <em>were </em>they? Idiots. Obviously idiots and new at the job. </p>
</div><p>"Nice one, Honora! That was awesome!" Aang exclaimed cheerfully, looking up at the fire-bender in appreciation when he was sure they were all alone but she didn't even spare him a glance, too busy twisting her head around to glare at Katara who quirked a brow in response, standing her ground and knowing what was just about to kick off.</p><p>"Let go of my hand, blue-eyes. <em>Now</em>."</p><p>"Sorry I didn't want you to <em>kill </em>anyone." Katara replied with a huff, letting go of the calloused palm that <em>radiated </em>a rather pleasant heat and crossing her arms over the other, lips pursued and eyebrows furrowed as she glared off to the side, ignoring Honora's look of indignation.</p><p>"You're lucky I didn't <em>kill </em>you. Do you know how dangerous touching me in when I'm <em><b>sparkin</b></em>g?"</p><p>"Guys come on. We don't have time for this, we need to find Bumi." Aang stepped between the two, looking at them both with his begging grey eyes that they both reacted to, Katara visibly softening while Honora rolled her eyes, tugging up her shirt once more to cover her face before marching away, turning around the corner and leaving them staring after her with wide eyes, until she popped her head back around with a glare so forceful is could move <b><em>mountains</em></b>.</p><p>"Are you coming or not?"</p><p>And so, they spent the next hour looking out for Bumi, or some place that could <em>hold </em>the powerful earthbender in its confines of metal but they were coming up empty, and although the Avatar continued to search in absolute determination, Honora was starting to become more and more doubtful that they were going to find him, dead...or alive.</p><p>But, then again, it could of been worse she supposed, they could of been recognised.</p><p>However, it seemed that just as that thought hit her, there was a rumble up above her, and the group of teens just managed to turn their heads in time to see a large boulder storming it's way down the steep hill, thundering so loud it was almost impossible to miss. But before Honora could warn anyone not to stop its course, Aang had already swung his staff and <em>shattered </em>the stone in an attempt to protect the people down below who stared up at them with narrowed eyes, obviously assuming they'd been the ones attempting to kill them.</p><p>"The resistance!"</p><p>Honora turned to run with a curse, but a familar launched attack at the Avatar had her pausing in her tracks, golden eyes the only thing visible due to her improvised mask and they were blown wide, staring at the tiny arrows currently embedded into the stacked construction blocks that Aang had leapt up onto for safety. She quickly glanced down at the group below them more scrutinizing, and she instantly zeroed in on a familiar figure, staring back at her with a haunty smirk.</p><p>"<em>Mai?"</em> She whispered in confusion, voice so low that only the wind could hope to hear it.</p><p>But she wasn't given alot of time to think on how she felt about her old friend, because they quickly had company as two guards climbed up the ladder against the walls to meet them, but it was Katara who acted first, whirling around and quickly using the water from her flask to create a water whip, lashing out at the two guards pursing them and knocking the two down just as Mai reached the level.</p><p>The dark-haired girl extended her right arm as she ran at Katara, shooting off some small arrows at the other girl, but Katara raised a shield of ice to protect herself, her blue eyes blown wide, moving back to gather herself for another defensive move, only to watch as the girl was kicked to the side by a masked Honora, who then quickly ran for it while the non-bender was down, grabbing Katara's arm as she rushed past her and pulling her ahead of her until they caught up with the others.</p><p>Honora's ear twitched against her head suddenly, her eyes narrowing, and without even hesitating, she leapt up into the air, twisting her lithe body around to the side and catching the two throwing stars that had been aiming for her head mid-jump, and then threw them back towards the girl all in the same breath, feet hitting off the floor as she twirled around to face her.</p><p>Mai skidded to a stop, lips parting in shock as her <em>own </em>weapons came towards her, only just managing to dodge them, but it was the familiarity of the way her opponent moved that had her pausing. A light wind blowing as the two stared the other down, dark strands of the strangers hair fluttering in the breeze and mask hanging high up their face, obscuring their features as they crouched low, awaiting her next move.</p><p>The non-bender blinked slowly, unable to tear her eyes away and lift her arm for an attack as the strangers eyes met her own, golden orbs somehow both sharp and empty and <b><em>dead </em></b>at the same time, a mangled and ferocious figure that looked like some forgotten god that was hanging on by a mere <em>thread</em>, protecting the three behind her with a long arm braced off to the side, something around her forearm glistening gold in the pale moonlight.</p><p>But Mai didn't have time to wonder about the girl for long, because the earth suddenly caved underneath her, and she and her companions disappeared with a faint rumble and settle of dust. She stared at the place where the four teens and the lemur had been for a few more tense moments before sighing and turning around to strut back towards her family, face twisting in disinterest.</p><p>And down under the ground, Honora was still in fight mode, her sai's twirling in her hands and her eyes narrowed dangerously as she stood, the others still sitting on the floor behind her and rubbing their heads in pain at the rough ride, before seemingly noticing they were surrounded by men dressed in earth-kingdom uniform.</p><p>"Uh...hi?" <br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>If there was one word that could be used to describe Honora in that moment it was tense, <em>very</em> tense with her mask high on her nose, her muscles so tightly coiled that they were performing a rather impressive bulge in her biceps and her fingers sparking with blue currents that she kept <em>firmly</em> tucked under her armpits, lest the large group of Earthbenders notice.</p><p>Katara and Sokka had obviously noticed her discomfort, and were both, rather considerably, walking on either side of her, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign that she was about to loose it but finding that the princess was actually a rather impressive actress too, because she looked completely at ease, but only the water-tribe siblings could feel the static air swarming around her, and by making the sacrifice to stand next to her and absorb the electric shocks, they planned to keep it that way.</p><p>"So, is King Bumi with you guys?" Aang asked the man in charge, Yung, eagerly as they came to a stop, his expression hopeful as his eyes flickered over the group hiding in the underground cave, as if expecting the old man to pop up at any moment. "Is he leading the resistance?"</p><p>"Of course not!...The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city, to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a change, King Bumi surrendered!"</p><p>The man hissed through gritted teeth, his hands clenched tightly by his side as he looked over everyone, unbelieving that <em>this </em>is what they'd been subjected too, before he turned back around to look the Avatar in the eye, expression dark and practically <em>murderous</em>. "The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do, and he looked me in the eye and said '<em>I'm going to do...nothing!'</em>"</p><p>So consumed in his grief and anger, the man didn't notice the way Honora had stepped closer with narrowed eyes, searching his face for any sign of hostility but keeping her mouth shut, not wanting to draw attention to herself lest she be questioned about her temporary mask that was hiding her identity. It was times like this she really did dislike how much she looked like her father.</p><p>"It doesn't matter now." Yung finally continued after a quick but steady breath, causing Aang to lower his eyes sadly, small hands clenched tightly around his staff that shook slightly in his grip. "Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for."</p><p>And for some odd reason, the last whispered sentence struck Honora, a certain feeling unfurling inside her chest as the words echoed inside her head because was freedom really worth it? Revenge she could understand, it was currently the only reason she was still standing on her own two feet instead of allowing her hatred and pain and <em>grief </em>to consume her. But freedom? Freedom she'd never thought as something so important.</p><p>"Actually there's another path to freedom." Aang stated, his voice strangely somber as he lifted his eyes and looked directky into Yungs seriously.</p><p>"You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered. You <em>can't</em> win...now is the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day."</p><p>But unfortunately for him, it seemed that his words that he'd been hoping to ignite hope were nothing but that, just <b><em>words</em></b>. "You don't understand." Yung retorted in exasperation as he began gesturing with his hands. "They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at any cost!"</p><p>"I do believe that the Avatar, otherwise known as the <em>last </em>airbender, is the person who'd understand your plight the most. Or have you forgotten who you're talking to." Honora replied slowly, her voice slightly muffled but clear to hear, almost mocking the man as she tilted her head to the side dangerously, coming to Aang's defence as he tried to save their lives, unaware of the shocked glance he gave her in return.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me." One of the rebels suddenly broke his silence to give his companion a hard look, listening to the Avatar and knowing that if they didn't leave now, they never would. There would always be a battle to fight, and at this point, the only think they were doing was fighting a cause that was long since lost. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah!" Another one of the Earthbenders agreed decisively as he stepped forward and pointed at himself, seeing his chance and taking it. "I'm with the kid!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Yung pursed his lips slightly, listening to their choices, before he turned his head and looked out at all the people who had taken refuge in the sewers under Omashu with a pained expression, taking in the fact that they'd lost so much, their homes, their families and their friends and now they were all that was left of the once great city as they whispered quietly to themselves, then, after a moment of silence, Yung then looked back at Aang at the other teens with a sigh.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Fine." He consented reluctantly, practically spitting the words out through gritted teeth as he slowly came round to the idea. "But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sokka scratched the side of his cheek, grimacing in disgust at the sickly looking bumps that still stained his skin, before his eyes went wide as a metaphorical light bulb lit up over his head as he pointed towards the fighters gleefully, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the others as he winked at Honora, who instantly knew what he was about to say next as she groaned. "Suckers! You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You have <em>got </em>to be kidding me." </p>
</div><p>And sure enough, the next day, Honora and Aang stood away from everyone as they planned their daring escape, Honora because she, once again, didn't want to draw <em>too</em> much attention to herself, and Aang because he wanted to be left alone for a few moments, and who better to make sure that no one tried to converse with him than the princess who practically <b><em>radiated </em></b>danger.</p><p>Honora shoot him a look out of the corner of her eye as she took in his disheartened expression, because she could only imagine how upset he was, though he was desperately trying to hide it, but after finding out last night that not only was his friend had been captured by the firenation, but he'd subjected the citizens of Omashu to their fate, surrendering them before they even had a <em>chance</em><em>, </em>it must of been a rather hard pill to swallow.</p><p>She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning her shoulder against the wall behind her, and opened them to look over the people currently being practically attacked with the sucking little purple monsters with the water-tribe siblings dancing around them all to try and help, getting ready to act out a plague for their only chance at freedom and shook her head with an amused tilt to her lips. She had to hand it to Sokka, he could be quite intelligent...when he wanted to be that was.</p><p>"Honora?"</p><p>A voice suddenly broke the silence, and she turned her head to find the Avatar nervously picking at the wood of his staff, not making eye contact with the taller girl and instead staring down at his feet, clearing his throat awkwardly when he was sure he had her attention as the princess quirked a single brow, her mask still hanging low on her face as she hummed. "Hm?"</p><p>"Why do you think Bumi surrendered?"</p><p>She paused for a moment as the question registered inside her mind, tilting her head back to rest it against the wall as she thought on how to word her answer in a way that <em>wouldn't </em>make him cry like a baby or start an argument. "Well, I have two theories...One is that he was a coward."</p><p>"And the other?" Aang asked desperately, his large grey eyes staring up at her, causing the fire-bender to let out a huff of breath and roll her eyes before crossing her arms over her chest, the solid gold of her gauntlets clanking against each other noisily which made her scowl in irritation, not wanting to admit that the earthbender might of got the better of her people.</p><p>"That he was rather smart about it."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"When Earthbenders and Firebenders collide, it <em>never</em> ends well. They'd be nothing but destruction and ash and bloodshed, with innocents, generals, soldiers and civilians all suffering the same fate from <em>both </em>sides...and if Bumi is as smart as <em><b>you </b></em>think he is, then he probably knew that. So by surrendering...he saved their lives. Of course it was only a temporary solution, considering it seems that none of them took the way out and continued to fight, but the sacrifice was there all the same."</p><p>Aang blinked, then blinked again, then blinked a final time as a grin stretched over his face, practically splitting his face in two as he nodded his head, his hat tipping for a moment as he did so. "Yeah, <em>yeah </em>maybe that's why he did it!" And fell quiet once more, and just as it seemed that Honora was going be allowed to rest her eyes for a moment, he spoke up once more, quiet and soft and <em>gentle</em>. "Honora?"</p><p>"<em>What </em><em><b>now</b></em>?"</p><p>"Thankyou."</p><p>"Oh...you're welcome."</p><p>"Okay everyone!" Sokka suddenly called out loudly, clapping his hands together to grab the citizens' attention and then pointing ahead of him, blue eyes alight with determination and unknowingly breaking up the small moment the Avatar and the dangerous princess were having as they strolled over to him calmly. "Into sick formation!"</p><p>And as if those were the magic words, the citizens and Sokka began shuffling off towards the gates of Omashu, moaning and groaning in pain as they feigned the 'deadly' illness, making Honora chuckle as she followed after then, but just as Katara was going to her she noticed that Aang wasn't coming with them, instead he was walking off into another direction with Momo by his side. "Aang? What are you doing? Aren't you coming with us?"</p><p>"No, I'm not leaving until I find Bumi." And with that final dramatic declaration, he was off.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>The plan had worked.</p><p>Honora wasn't exactly sure <em>how </em>it worked but it had as the rather exhausted group started to set camp for the night in the surrounding mountains of Omashu, surprisingly in a good mood for refugees. The fire-bender watched over them for a moment, far away from them on a hilltop and wanting to breathe the air for herself, before sighing, pushing her improvised mask back up above her nose, frustration making her golden eyes practically glow as she crawled down the steep hill.</p><p>And when she finally reached the bottom, she found Aang, who she hadn't of been aware that he'd even come back from his failed rescue mission with the water-tribe siblings standing beside him and for some odd reason, Yung, talking rather anxiously at them. But she hardly gave them the time of day and instead stared, wide-eyed at what looked to be a <em>giant</em> <em><b>fucking </b></em>rabbit staring back at her with its tongue hanging out.</p><p>"Uh, what in the spirit realm is that?"</p><p>"We kinda have bigger problems here." Sokka snapped at her, face having gone pale as he grabbed her shoulder to pull her closer to the small group, looking over her shoulder fearfully as if someone was listening in and gulping at the glare that took over her features as she snarled at him for touching her.</p><p>She opened her mouth, ready to ask the daunting question on what on earth was bigger than the huge monster <em>still </em>staring at her, before her ears pricked up at a familar sounding coo. And ever so slowly, Katara finally turned to face her fully, face a sheepish grimace with a rather pale and chubby baby beginning to get teary eyed in her arms as she desperately tried to rock it to stop the impending meltdown.</p><p>"Congratulations. That's a child." Honora deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest and quirking a brow, all five of them wincing as the baby started to cry loudly, heart wrenching sobs as it wiggled around in Katara's arms.</p><p>"Yeah, we can see that...but it's not any of ours." Aand said sarcastically, the last part coming out in a yell as the babies cries rose in pitch, almost drowning out his voice with it's own, and, unseen to the four teens, Yung decided that he was too old to be dealing with that and strolled away while they didn't notice, heading back down to his temporary camp and hoping they'd come down <em>after </em>they got it to stop crying.</p><p>"You've got to be joking."</p><p>"Nope, we're kidnappers. Literally kidnappers."</p><p>"Look, we'll just- Oh, for Angi's sake pass him here." Honora finally broke, eye twitching as the grating noise of the kids continuous crying assaulted her sensitive ears, and not even giving the others the time to protest, she pulled the baby out of Katara's arms and into hers, popping it against her hip and raising her body temperature to a comfortable heat, allowing the baby to leech her warmth as she hummed under her breath, chest vibrating with the low hum as the baby plopped its head on her chest and snuggled in, quietening down with its eyelids fluttering shut as it sucked on his thumb peacefully.</p><p>"How did you do that?"</p><p>"Experience. Now just <em>what</em> are we going to do?"</p><p>But no one answered her, for once...they were all out of ideas.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>A few hours later, Katara giggled faintly from her position next to Honora, staring at the fire-bender out of the corner of her eye as she watched the little toddler stumble after Momo, sitting around one of the many campfires with the others and a few of the resistance fighters, the princess remaining standing, leaning against Appa who grumbled happily, while keeping a close watch over the kid, making sure it wasn't in any danger as it chased the poor flying lemur. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Momo cringed away from the baby and leapt out of the way just in time to avoid being caught, jumping onto Honora's shoulders who sighed but allowed it, causing the baby to tumble forward right next to Sokka's club with a shocked hiccup, and only the water bender noticed the way Honora had stepped forward as if to check on him. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>But she didn't have to, because the baby had quickly lost interest in the strange creature that was Momo, and was now, rather grossly, trying to fit the club into his mouth, drool and snot covering it as he gurgled around it happily, looking up at Honora with bright eyes who shuddered in revolution. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No!" Sokka snapped as he snatched the club out of the baby's grasp, groaned as some of the spittle dribbled down his knuckles as he glared at the kid, unaware of Honora's dark gaze as he did so. "Bad Fire Nation baby!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The baby stared at him for a long moment, before a screaming cry escaped his little throat, face blossoming a bright red as he yelled his complaints into the night, and that was all it took for Katara to get just as aggressive as her brother had been, reaching across the space between them to whack him across the face and then place her hands on her hips in a motherly fashion with a scowl. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh...alright." Sokka grumbled in annoyance, willing to do anything to keep his sister happy as he handed the club back to the baby, who instantly stopped his crying to giggle happily, chubby little fingers spreading all sort of dirt on the boys weapon as he played with it, as Sokka stubbornly avoided looking, making a mental note to wash it when he had the time. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ooh, you're so cute." Katara cooed, unable to hide the hearts in her eyes as she leaned down and hugged the baby from behind, kissing his flushed cheek and unaware of the way Honora's gaze had softened as she watched the display between the two, unintentionally causing Sokka to look off to the side in annoyance, his hand resting on his head with a overdramtic huff of distain. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sure he's cute now, but when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army." Yung grunted as he looked at the girl playing with the baby across the fire under Sokka's exasperated scrutiny, his gaze heavy and dark while his fists clenched on top of his weary knees. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a <em>killer</em>."</p>
</div><p>Out of the corner of Honora's eye, she could see Aang looking up at her in concern, waiting to see if she took his words to heart but she only shrugged, because there wasn't exactly a lie in his statement, in the firenation won the war, or if the war continued how it was, than that cute babbling baby could become just as much of a monster as she was in the future...just not as powerful.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Does that look like the face of a killer to you?" Katara asked in a 'baby-talk' voice, her lips forming into an indignant pout as she picked the struggling baby up and showed him to Yung, whose face remained totally indifferent and unimpressed. Then there was a sudden claw that ripped through the darkness, and Honora was instantly standing straight with her sai's shooting from her gauntlets to twirl around her hands, eyes searching the sky for any sign of threat or spy, but just seeing a familar looking bird resting atop a rock. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's a messenger hawk."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was Aang who stood up and walked over to the bird cautiously, and after a moment of hesitation, he sighed and pulled out the small scroll out of the canister on the messenger hawk's back, his eyes quickly fitting over the parchment as Honora came up behind him to read over his shoulder, her brows furrowed as she pulled it closer to the camp fire so they could see it. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son. So, he wants to make a trade. His son-" Aang explained, reading it aloud for the others sitting down, before he finally got to the end of the scroll and his eyes went wide with shock. "-For King Bumi."<br/>_________________________________________________</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Later on, while everyone was asleep in their respective camps and bed rolls with their so called plan of action in mind, Honora was still up, pacing back and forwards with her golden eyes narrowed in determination, and, after a final nod to herself as she made her decision, she stood straighter and stormed over to where Katara lay and booted the sleeping girl in the side to wake her up rather aggressively.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ow! Why would you-" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hush. Follow me." Honora ordered, her index finger covering her lips as she shot a look over to the baby who slept soundly, pudgy little arms wrapped around Sokka's club who was holding on to the other end, snoring rather loudly and both undeterred from Katara's loud exclaim of pain as she slowly sat up, glaring at the fire-bender all the while, but after realising that the taller girl was serious, she stood up with a sigh and followed after her. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>They walked a little way away from the others into a small clearing, slightly obscured away from sight with a thick cluster of bushes, high enough that no one would be able to peak over them, though Honora's head was just brushing over the top of it, in her defence however, there was many downsides to being over six foot, and trying to be inconspicuous hiding behind a Bush just happened to be one of them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And, after making sure the coast was clear, Honora finally pulled the mask down and away from her face, sighing in relief as the cold breeze brushed over the stuffy skin, a light pink mark scratched horizontally across her face due to the rough material, leaving Katara in a fit of giggles, which Honora ignored as she began to take off one of her gauntlets, eyes quickly averting away from the vicious scars as she tugged her under-shirt sleeve up and over her hands in its absence. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm not coming with you tomorrow."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What!?" Katara gasped, her eyes going wide as she stared at the tall fire-bender who quickly hushed her, face twisting into an aggressive snarl as she gestured towards the sleeping campers still in hearing distance and shook her head, rolling her eyes as she stepped closer and pulled her voice down to a low whisper. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I can't, blue-eyes...The other night I was almost recognised by Mai." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Who-"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The one with the knives." Honora said, sighing in exasperation as she stalked over to the water-bender, lifting her rather delicate looking arm up and placing her gauntlet onto Katara's forearm with narrowed eyes, clicking her tongue when she noticed that it was a bit too big but deciding it would have to do as she began bucking the straps tightly, giving a few tugs here and there to make sure it was at no risk of falling off. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Look, there's a good chance if I go there again tomorrow I could be recognised by <em>any </em>of the people of higher standing, unfortunately my face is rather unforgettable." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Because you're pretty?" Katara asked drowsily, staring at the girls sharp features that somehow blended with threatening and otherworldly, while rubbing her eye with the palm of her hand and not even registering the words that had just left her parted lips.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But Honora obviously had as she stumbled while trying to tie the final knot, her long fingers pausing before she took in the girls dropping eyelids and tired expression and quickly chalked the girls blunt honesty to being exhausted, which she <em>refused </em>to feel guilty about as she finally finished tying the gauntlet, shifting the girls arm around and nodding her head and replying hesitatingly. "...Because I look like my father." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That's why, I'm giving you this." She said, tapping the golden protection with her knuckle and smiling her barely there smile as Katara blinked down at it tiredly, before her eyebrows furrowed in shock. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Your gauntlet?" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Obviously. Now, if you run into Mai again, which I suspect you will, this will help you deflect her attacks. Mai always goes for four areas, your face to scar, your neck to kill, your shoulder to disorient and you chest to slow you down. So, the moment she releases whatever she has up her sleeves you're going to-" </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Honora slowly moved behind her while she was talking, grabbing the gauntlet covered arm in a gentle but sturdy grip, her warm front against the water-benders cool back and swiped the arm she was holding across Katara's chest in one quick swoop, the certain move that would protect all four areas and meaning that the girl didn't have to worry about deflecting Mai's knives. "-Do that, and then run for it, and if I were you...I'd try and run in a zig-zag motion." </p>
</div><p>Katara laughed gently at the rare joking tone of Honora's voice, turning around in the girls light grip and meeting her golden gaze with own as she took in their rather close position, the laughter dying in her throat as her hand hovered in the small space between their two bodies, looking at though she wanted to reach out and touch but not allowing herself the final step, not allowing herself the luxury all the while Honora palms rested against her waist, surprising gentle and soft and <em>warm.</em></p><p>However, the moment was quickly broken by a familar sounding chirp, and the both spun around to meet Momo staring back at them, his large ears twitching as he made another noise, obviously happy he had their attention as Honora rolled her eyes and Katara remembered just <em>who </em>she was with as she sprung away from her, face feeling strangely hot as she busied herself with playing with the gauntlets dark straps.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Are you sure it'll be able to deflect the knives?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You hear this?" Honora said, tapping against it with a quirked brow, and at Katara's nod, she allowed herself a small smirk. "Its pure gold, blue-eyes. Trust me, it can practically deflect anything." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Katara blinked, and the stared down at the golden gauntlet with an aghast expression pulling at her face, holding her arm out away from her chest and unable to tear her eyes away from the pretty piece of armour as the moons glow danced across it, her mouth now closely resembling a gasping fish. "Wow...I guess we know what to do if we're ever short on money."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Please</em>, we'll be selling Momo if we're ever short on money."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Said creature squeaked in fear, large ears dropping down as it anxiously rubbed its little hands together, making their attention snap over to him once more as he stared at the fire-bender fearfully, who couldn't resist playfully biting the air with her eyes glistening cruelly. She really had never forgiven the flying lemur for the whole 'arm in mouth' situation. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I said what I said you little pest." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>And taking the threat seriously, Momo scurried away into the safety of Aang's arms, chattering nervously as Honora laughed, Katara shaking her head in amusement because even though she loved the flying lemur, there was something so...nice about seeing the fire-bender able to laugh freely, forgetting who she was as the wind brushed through her dark strands of hair and making them dance in the light wind. And Katara only snapped out of her smiling trance when she realised that Honora was talking to her, as she gestured over to one of the mountains not too far from them. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'll be waiting for you atop that hill, when everything is said and done, come back for me." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Okay." Katara nodded, cheeks flushing before a yawn slipped though her lips without her permission and she only just managed to cover it sheepishly, unaware of the way Honora's eyes had softened when she realised how late it <em>actually </em>was, and remembering that not all people were able to stay up as long as she was and winced, clearing her throat apologetically. </p>
</div><p>"You can go back to bed now."</p><p>"Are you going to sleep too?"</p><p>"Probably not. I don't like being vulnerable around those who'd kill me if they knew who I was, surprisingly. Plus, I'm going to take a head start, I can't keep wearing this mask." Honora said shrugging her shoulders, before turning back around to walk in the opposite direction rather abruptly, not noticing the way Katara had unintentionally stepped forward as if to join her...Or stop her until she remembered herself.</p><p>"Alright...be careful, I'll tell the others where you've gone in the morning."</p><p>"Goodnight, blue-eyes. Sleep well." <br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>The walk had been the easiest part, but it was being alone with her thoughts that was the hardest because for a long time, she'd had her uncle and brother to distract her, now the shenanigans of the Avatar and his friends, but sitting here, leaning against the tree with her green shirt <em>finally </em>being worn as a shirt, Honora found herself wishing she'd just taken the risk and joined the others in the hostage exchange.</p><p>Because the truth was, in seeing Mai, in caring for the child that they'd accidentally stolen, it all made her think about Azula, and that was someone she most <em>definitely </em>didn't want to think about because she was scared if she allowed her thoughts to wander over to her for a <em>moment, </em>she'd crumble at the seams. She loved her sister, she was doing all this <em>for </em>her sister, killing Ozai was the only way she could protect her, could protect them...and Honora could only hope she didn't hate her too much when the deed was done.</p><p>Night was begining to settle on the horizon, nocturnal creatures begining to move and call out into the darkness ominously but she didn't move, just slipped her sai out of her only gauntlet and twirled it around her fingers peacefully.</p><p>Luckily for her, she didn't have to wait another moment longer, hearing a familar groan as Appa came into view with the others on his back, flying down below the steep hill and circling it, obviously getting ready to land so she could climb aboard but she didn't even give him a chance, instead getting a running start, leaping into the air with her white flames forming at her feet and rocketing herself into the saddle with a grunt, causing everyone to scream in suprise.</p><p>"Shut up, it's just me." Honora snapped, rubbing her head in agitation, leaning against the back of the saddle with her arms sped on either side, sighing in relief at being away from the earth kingdom and back on route, only to pause when she noticed the rather upset look on Katara's pretty face. "And why do you look so panicked?"</p><p>"I can't bend." Katara said, hovering her hand over her water-skin and trying desperately to pull at the water, to feel it but no matter how hard she tried she just <em>couldn't</em>, it was as if her connection to her element was completely severed and Sokka, sitting beside her, instantly wrapped in arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her, sending a pleading look over to Honora as if to <em>beg </em>her to be gentle about this.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"This...<em>girl</em> dressed in pink hit me with something and my bending...my bending is gone."</p><p>"Not gone, blocked. It'll come back in a few moments, don't worry about it." Honora rolled her eyes, chest unwinding from the sudden tension as she ran her calloused hand down the side of her face before pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger because <em>really</em>? This stress was really not good for her blood pressure.</p><p>"What? How do you know?"</p><p>"Its called Chi-blocking, and I knew someone long ago who could do the same." The fire-bender waved a hand through the air nonchalantly, looking down at the scenery passing by below them, not that there was alot to see because of the shrouding darkness of the night taking its hold, but then again, she always did find some comfort in the dark, not seeing the relief taking up Katara's face as she breathed a sigh finally.</p><p>"Don't suppose you happen to know a crazy fire-bender who can shoot blue fire, do you?" Sokka snorted, turning away to reach into one of the bags to pull out a slice of jerky, but when he turned back around he squealed in terror to find Honora's face mere <em>inche</em>s away from his own, her fist wrapping around the front of his robes to pull him closer with her intense eyes glowing a <em><b>flaming gold.</b></em></p><p>"What did you just say?"</p><p>"Blue fire! I said blue fire!" Sokka squeaked, hands held up submissively in front of him, and just as Aang turned around to ask just <em>what </em>was going on back there, Honora physically threw herself back as if she'd taken a blow, her expression vacant and empty but somehow also filled with dread, chest heaving with uneven breaths as she realised just <em>who </em>had been at Omashu. Because there was only one person alive who'd been able to bend blue flame other than herself.</p><p>"Honora? Are you alright?" Katara asked slowly, shuffling closer as if approaching a wild animal and ignoring her brothers indignant squeak because if she should be asking anyone about their wellbeing it should be <em>him</em>. <em><b>He</b></em> was the one who was just attacked.</p><p>"I know who the fire-bender was, and I'm betting I know who the chi-blocker was too." Honora replied slowly, rubbing her thumb across her temple absentmindnessly, not even bothering to grab her sleeve as it slipped down her arm, accidentally showing Katara a sliver of the horrific and viciously scarred skin.</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>"Her name is Azula...and she's my sister."</p>
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